[sylvanSpider]

“But that's all they are,” Aren said, giving Ian's shoulder a slight squeeze, “This is the real world. Tristan's still alive back in the town, and so are you. Here, this might help wake you up.” He handed the redhead a water bottle and stood to start packing his own belongings. “It's late enough the sun is out. I decided to let you sleep, but check in is at ten, so we should probably get our asses on the road.”

Aren didn't stretch. He knew how at one point, but his brother had given up on taking him with on his daily workouts long ago, so he simply waited patiently while Ian went through his morning routine, careful where he kept his eyes as he did so. Serj always suspected him of being queer, so it was likely others would draw the same conclusion so he was hyper conscious of where he could rest his eyes. They did, however, follow when Ian drew attention to his inked forearms and gulped as he looked at the tattoos, mentally taking in the numbers in the case of an emergency.

The pair began to make their way back to the city when Aren sighed, seeing that the man had followed them. He was far enough away that he didn't see the building that they left, so he posed literally no threat. “Well, now we know Maverik has stuff in that tunnel. Thanks for the intel,” Aren shot back, not bothering to disclose why they went to the tunnel themselves.

Aren leaned in close, just out of arm's reach and grinned, now feeling the same bit of animosity that Ian showed. Maverik was a legitimately shitty person, and now Aren was aware of that. “It's a pity he forgot about you. You're gonna die out here, and for what? Someone that doesn't give two shits about you.”