At least you try to.

Making camp was awkward, Kay wouldn't meet my eyes and I had to set up my and Roxy's tent up.

We really should spend the extra, after a few more of these better missions, on better tents.

Cuddling was the best we could get right now and even then only two could squeeze into one of these tents, leaving someone out.

Not that we were supposed to be doing such, we were sticking to my Professional guildlines.

Unless there was an issue, then we would be there for each other.

Right now I just wanted to pin Kay down and have her explain things to me.

But I knew her well enough by now I had to wait for her to come to me otherwise it would just be another fight.

She knows she fucked up I'll let her stew in that until she's ready to talk.

After getting me and Roxy settled for the evening I expected to have to wait till the morning to have that conversation.

"Mir, sorry, I-I really am."

Not only was her saying that this soon a surprise the Tears In Her Eyes also were.

There is something deeper going on.

" I know Kay I know. At least we're all okay, Roxy's just exhausted."

" It's just that, god, for the first time I'm actually having doubts."

This could be a problem, " About what Kay "

"Me"

OH. "Why?"

" This fucking title the fucking mandate before this, when I would fuck up I would know it was me, it was something we could fix, it was something you could train out of me in the field, that I could take a tight grip on myself when needed, but this, I saw that fucking thing and the rage boiled over.

And yeah the thing made me angry but the overwhelming violent anger felt like it was pouring into me so I could release it on the world.

I was having trouble coming to terms with not being able to be home with you as much but we worked so hard to make this work and now I can't promise I won't be the thing that gets all three of us killed. "

" If that's all, I thought I told you already, you two are mine, you're not allowed to die, I won't let it happen and I won't let it kill me either, I already promised you two.

Yeah it's going to take some adjusting and I'm going to have to make some new strategies or train your happy ass into the ground enough you can overcome a Goddess' rage.

We're All in This Together and if I could deal how fussy you were when we first started working together, I can handle this.

Don't dwell on it that way, go lay with Roxy you could both could use the Comfort, I'll take First Watch and second watch."

There's more I wanted to say and I'm sure there was more she wanted to say, but it'd go better if we were all more rested.

I didn't leave the chance for argument I walked to the tree we were camped under and started climbing so I can have a good view.

---

This really was the Badlands, compared to where we used to run.

I didn't have to wake them up but I did have to kill several monsters before they got to the camp.

A bow large enough and heavy enough an unpowered grown man would have never been able to draw it, rested in my lap as I took up my watch again having fell another griffin.

I heard something in the brush closer than it should have been able to get, I stood up and Drew back the bow, elemental power forming the arrow, ready to strike like lightning when I release.

My hand stayed, it was the creature that I had used as a Teleport Target earlier, but it wasn't acting aggressive dispite getting closer, in fact it was still an available teleport Target...

It was smaller than the other ones, I wonder if that meant it was younger or if it was just the runt.

Sneaking towards us, poking around what Little Brush there was, curious and scared look on its face.

I was reminded of a wounded wolf that had followed my uncle home during a hunting trip, it had been injured and caught in another Hunter's trap and having pity he freed it.

According to my father the wolf had stuck around, too scared to get closer but close enough that it defended the farm from coyotes and foxes, never getting close enough to my uncle himself, but more than willing to take a treat when my uncle would toss it far enough.

It stayed and protected the farm until it died of old age when I was just five or so.

That memory made me make a decision.

' the darkness of the night finds your skin'

As it stalked closer to Camp I stalked closer to it, until I was right on top of it.

I broke the effect and it froze in place, scared, it bristled as I got closer.

I held my hand out to it hoping it was close enough to the animals I was familiar with.

It sniffed me and settled a bit, but I could still tell it was on edge, at least it was until my hand, slowly moving to its injury, brushed over it, healing power soothing the poor thing.

"cooooo? Mmmmmrrrrr"

Looking at my hand healing it, knowledge came to me again.

'sanctuary and friendship, follower of love offers you this'

"Come on little guy I'll protect you, let me show you where you'll sleep from now on."

The bond was formed when its head bumped into my hand clearly wanted me to run my hand over it again.

"OK little guy, scritchs and then bed, here I bet you didn't eat yet." I gave it the leftovers of my own meal.

Hearing something pur that loudly was deeply relaxing.

And now when I woke Kay up for her watch I'd have something to talk to her about besides her fuck up.

Damn this thing was Fluffy it was hard to stay awake.

----

When Kay was awake for her watch she didn't waste any time asking questions.

"Mir, I'm going to ask what happened and I'm not going to be okay with your normal smart-ass answers, before getting the real one."

I continued doting on the fluffiest little guy I had ever seen "Fine, had a few good ones too, this little guy is the reason I was able to save your ass yesterday and it was appreciative that I stopped it from being drug into that thing... Now we're Buddies. Kay it followed me home, can I keep it?"

" I'm too awake, too sober, and too uncaffeinated for this, I'm just going to chalk this up to more of your goddesses BS."

"Not wrong there either."

I fell asleep in the fur of our new friend.