"It--nothing. My head's fine. No need to look." Temptation mutters, ducking away from her outstretched hand. In an attempt to change the subject, he murmurs. "Thanks. I-- I was almost seafood there." It wasn't just to change the subject. Dimly, through the physical shock and whatnot, he felt an odd sort of surprise realizing what Joy had done for him -- something he certainly was not used to.
I--" He stammers, looking at her in the face. He forces himself not to shy away again, meeting her blue-eyed gaze. "You--" He hesitates, trying to find a response. "Sorry, I-- . . . No one's ever done that for me before.”
"Really, no one's ever helped you before?" She asks. "You seem like a really nice guy. Certainly there must've been someone who's cared for you in some way?" She wonders. She was quite surprised at his case, as well as be the first to help him with something.
Now he looks away again, suddenly feeling quite uncomfortable. ". . . That-- that was a long time ago. Anyway," He says, standing up, hoping to change the subject again. "We should probably get out of here. I don't know if Jerry will come back, but even if he's gone, it's probably best we don't hang around here.”
"Good idea. Let's go." She replies as they walked away.
And so our two lovebirds... I mean... friends, left that part of Froggy Leg Swamp and ventured onward. Eventually, they followed a path that led them to a village, where perhaps they would encounter less danger than Jerry-the-tentacle-creature-thing.
They paused on a hill that overlooked the village -- or, rather, Temptation pauses. Joy is about to continue down the small slope to the little town when she realizes her companion is no longer beside her. She casts him an inquiring glance.
"What's wrong, Luke? Aren't you coming?" She asks curiously. Little did she know of Temptation's unfortunate past between him and the people of this village.
"Umm. . ." He hesitates awkwardly, trying to decide what to tell her. He decides to go with a half-truth. "Well. . . see, the thing is, some of these people. . . don't really like me. We have a, um. . . an unfortunate past, you could say." He flushes under the cowl.
Thank you, K! ![[uni]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/mPKcREJAtrpeAXSOgaOH.png)
Zach is a pretty fun writer to work with. 
Thank you, K! 
