He glanced back at her, missing the shift in her emotions at first.
"Well, yeah, I mean..."
He gestured vaguely as he tried to hold in his budding excitement.
"If we're heading that way anyway, having free access makes things a lot easier. No interference, no delays..."
He stopped mid-sentence when he finally noticed the change in the room.
"What?"
He frowned slightly.
She was looking at him blankly, with little to no emotion, but Atheline had been with her long enough to know she wasn't as calm as she appeared.
'I got too excited '
"You almost died," she said quietly but the words landed harder than he wanted to admit.
He blinked.
"Yes... I noticed."
A weak attempt at deflection but it didn't land. Her expression didn't change but her gaze grew colder.
"And you're thinking about routes," she stepped closer," about convenience."
He straightened slightly, the tension in the room finally registering.
"I'm just saying it works in our favor, we can use ..."
