"I feel like an 'I told you so' is appropriate, but I give in." He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. The grin slowly faded as the real reason why he came into her room returned to his mind. "How are you holding up? You know, with the whole Games thing?"
Wren sighed, picking at the seam of the comforter of the bed. "…I don't know. I still can't believe I was chosen, you know?"
"I…..think differently than most people," he admitted, studying his new acquaintance. "I just kinda see it as fate. It happened and there's nothing I can do about it now, so the best option I have is to take advantage of the situation handed to me."
"I guess that's smart," she admitted, leaning her head on the wall. "I should probably just accept my death. I absolutely suck at fighting. No way I can go up against those careers"
"You think I'mma let you die?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction.
Wren blushed, caught off guard. "Umm, I mean, I guess? I didn't really think you would care."
"You're the closest thing I'm gonna have to a friend out there," he said, scratching the side of his face. "And I'm not gonna let the only person on my side die."
"Well, I guess that means I can't let you die, either," she smirked.
"I'll be fine," he said, waving her off. "I've been fighting my whole life."
"I'll still look out for you," she insisted. "And don't try and deny it either. We'll both need all the help we can get."
"Let's just focus on the present issue, which is your upset stomach." He stood up, cracking his knuckles. "My grandpa taught me a massage to help with it."
Wren went even redder, if that was even possible. "O-okay.." she said.
"Roll onto your side," he said, walking over to her side. While the situation was still very amusing to him, he held in his smile and tried his best to look concerned. "It doesn't matter which."
Wren nodded briefly and rolled into her left side, trying not to groan from pain.
He gently put his hands at hip level, his left on top of his right.
"It's not gonna hurt, but you'll feel a bit of pressure," Kaz explained, then pressed against her side.
His hands traveled in small circles. After about 5 circles in one spot, he moved his hands up her side slightly and repeated the process until he reached her ribs. Then he did the same, but down her side, returning to her hip.
"Any better?" he asked.
Wren let out a sigh of relief as Kaz's steady hands eased the pain away. "A lot. Thank you." A brief smile curled up her lips but she tried not to show it.
He pulled his hands away and nodded, sitting back down in the chair. "Next time when I give you advice, you better listen."
"I'll decide on that when the time comes. You're not always right." She smirked, sitting upright again.
"That's a big assumption to make about a person you met 4 hours ago," he said, settling into his seat and crossing his arms.
Wren scoffed. "Well, nobody's always right! I was just saying that it depends on the advice. I'm not going to listen if it's a load of bullshit."
"I don't speak bullshit," he said, sticking his chin out indignantly. "If I give you advice, it's trustworthy."
Wren shrugged, a smile visible on her face. "How would I know? I've only known you for four hours."
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and frowned. "I…..hm. Fair enough, I guess. That massage won't ease the pain for very long, by the way. Tell me if it starts hurting again."
Wren nodded. "Okay, but I think it'll be alright. I can ride it out. Thank you, though," she spoke softly.
Kaz shrugged and stood up, rubbing his hands together. "The offer stands if you need it. I'm gonna take a shower though. I smell like shit."
The following keyboard controls are supported across Notebook.ai. All keyboard controls are disabled when editing a document or notebook page.