Hearing the creature’s surprised whisper, Asher removed his hand from his face and looked at her with a look mixed with uncertainty and mild exasperation. Words were proving to be difficult to find, especially when she complimented his voracious appetite for books. Usually, he would have simply wrote it off as idle flattery, but something about the way she said it and the way looked at him told him that she was being genuine. And something about that caught him completely off guard and made it difficult for him to look her in the eyes. [color=slategray]”It’s hardly been an eternity, I just couldn’t decide which ones to take,”[/color] he muttered demurely in response to her question. Thankfully, the prince knew he wasn’t blushing, but it was still painfully obvious that the creature still had quite the effect on him. But before he could give it more thought, Asher felt her flop on him in a spectacular fashion. 

[color=ed1c24]"We really should stop meeting like this...!"[/color] she said with a laugh. And with that insufferably infectious smile of hers, Asher found himself smiling as well. Not a small smirk or a mere grin, but an honest damn smile, the likes of which the prince hadn’t made in a long time. [color=slategray]”True, but something tells me you are a bit too clumsy for either of us to hope for much better,”[/color] he shot back lightheartedly. It surprised and worried him just how natural it was for him to lower his guard around the angel, but at the same time he was finding the feeling to be oddly pleasant.

But that was when he noticed the blood leaking out of the angel’s reopened wound. [color=92278f][i]It was because you grew soft![/i][/color] Asher’s smile died in a heartbeat as his father’s words echoed in his head once more. His eyes grew cold, focusing on her wound, as he remembered that he was the one responsible for the pain and suffering she went through the day before. The creature was saying something to him, but he couldn't make it out as it felt as if she was talking to him from a long ways off. [color=92278f][i]Or else... They will have the same fate as [b]her[/b], understand?[/i][/color]

[color=slategray]”We’re not friends,”[/color] he said sternly, almost as much for himself as for the angel. The prince got back on his feet on his own and regarded Octavia with an icy expression. [color=slategray]”In fact, I'm the one that gave you those injuries, or did you forget that part?"[/color] he asked with, even by his standards, a harsh acerbic bite.