"Of course you'd be that kind of girl," Kade said with an eye roll. He started to shake her shoulder harder, then stopped, just studying her face while she was asleep and peaceful. It was… pretty. She would have been beautiful if she didn't scowl all the time. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and shook her harder, despite wanting to stop and watch her sleep. "Wake up."
Arin made another grumbling sound, cracking one eye open just a little bit. "Go 'way." she grumbled at him, waving a hand and squirming away from him, burrowing deeper into the blankets. "Not gonna wake up yet." she added, despite obviously being awake already.
"We have to go," he said. Then, he smirked. "If you don't wake up now, does that mean I can dump water on you?"
"You dump water on me and I'll kill you. Asshole." she grumbled, sitting up and glaring at him. Her hair was messy, sticking up a little bit. She glared at him as she slid out of the bed, shaking her head.
"I'd like to see you try." Kade smirked at her appearance, and moved from her bed, quickly packing up his gear.
She used her fingers to comb through her hair, taming it into something a bit more subdued. "I'd try." she retorted, crossing her arms grumpily.
"You'd fail, but your welcome to try." Kade shrugged, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Ready to go, sweetheart?"
"Don't call me sweetheart." She snapped back, her arms still crossed over her chest, back stiff and looking uncomfortable and upset.
"Of course, love," he hummed. It was fun to annoy her. He bowed mockingly to her and opened the door. "Sugar pie? Princess of the Realm? Weirdo? Bitch? Which do you prefer?"
She kicked him in the shin as she walked past. "My name, asshole." she spat, her eyes narrowed as she looked over at him.
"What? You're name isn't Bitch? Huh, I guess I've been thinking it wrong this entire time. Please, do enlighten me." Her kick had hurt, not that he was ever going to admit it. He hid his limp as they headed down the stairs and into the courtyard, where a saddled horse awaited.
"You know my name." she snapped, crossing her arms again. Her eyes studied the horse for a moment, and she wondered if she could run away with it…maybe so.
"I've forgotten already." Kade shrugged. "I'm not great with names. Never have been. So, I have no idea what your name is."
Arin snorted. "Arin." she drew out the name as if she was speaking to a very small child. "My name is Arin."
"Like the guy name? Aaron?" He snorted. "They should try to name you something better. But the again, you can't help having this name."
"My name ends in rin not ron." She corrected. "And the A is pronounced Ah." she looked at him through narrowed eyes.
"It's like the same thing." Kade swung himself up onto the horse and held his hand out to her, to help her up in front of him.
She glared at him for a moment, before slowly taking his hand and hopping onto the horse. "It's not."
"Agree to disagree," he hummed. He heaved her onto the horse, reaching his arms around her and grabbing the reins to the horse, kicking the creature into a gallop.
She snorted, clenching her jaw. "It's my damn fucking name. I'm not going to agree to disagree about how my own name is pronounced."
"How do you know that's how your name is pronounced? Did someone tell you? I thought your family was murdered when you were really young."
She threw back her elbow to slam into his gut. "Because my mom died when I was six. You think I escaped the goddamn castle and got so far north on my own? She lived longer than the others and died in the woods." she spoke through gritted teeth, blinking back tears.
"Surprising. I didn't think that anyone in your family could fight," he said mildly, aware that he was hurting her, but not being able to help it.
"She didn't fight. She ran." she was forcing the words out, trying not to cry. He will not see you cry. She told herself, swallowing.
"And survived. That in itself is an amazing feat."