“Well it wasn’t permanent, was it? That doesn’t count,” Kire whined. “It was barely a few seconds.” She huffed, rubbing her nape, then flinching when she accidentally scratched the tender spot on her scalp. “Fine. That barrel is on me.” She looked him over again, then seemed to have heard his stomach growl. Kire clicked her tongue, disapproving. “You don’t need to get any skinnier. Get some food in you, will you? What’s the use of all the hunting I did the past several days? I owe you my life a few times over by now. How am I going to pay you back if you’re just going to starve yourself to death?” She sighed, shaking her head as she stepped a bit closer to sit down on another rock opposite him, sinking into silence. 

After a silence, she said softly, “Thank you. For not leaving back there. And for coming with me in the first place.” She looked out at the land they’d roughly plotted out. “The people that care about you aren’t going to feel any better about what happened in the past if they see you punishing yourself like this,” she said, arms crossed.