"You know, you could jus' call me hot like a normal person." . [ cont ] @goldcnpeaks
oh-- she was listening. wasn't she focusing on the map and trying to narrow her search area down for the poor tourist who wandered off the trail? he assumed her absent hums and half-hearted nods once he started speaking about a game with a similar concept meant she had TUNED him out a long time ago. and that she was just content with him rambling to fill the empty silence between them. he SHOULD have just continued talking about game and not how attractive he thought she was for overcoming her traumatic experiences. he swallowed hard, gaze trying to look anywhere but at her as his ears slowly turned red from EMBARASSMENT.
but a small part of him, the boyish curiosity that she hates whenever he explored the forest with her wanted to see what her reaction was. so he stole a glance back. it was just supposed to be for a HALF second, or shorter, but she was smiling. that dangerous little smirk that always seemed to catch his heart off guard. "i--.." he paused, trying but FAILING to come up to come up with a decent response. or ANY response. she had to be teasing him at this point. "i don't think you have much competition.." he mumbled softly, hand rising to rub the back of his neck in an attempt to look NONCHALANT. though he knows its a pointless action. she always seemed to see through him.
"i .. i just thought saying you were hot.. sounded .." his voice trailed off as he TRIED to find a better word. but his brain, which was already struggling from her smile, found none and simply gave up. "uuh.. boring.." god, he really needed to work on EXPANDING his vocabulary. "ah-- but.. i don't really make a habit of ranking peple.." he added in quickly, hoping she didn't think he was a shallow person who only cared about looks. "so i'm probably not the best person to ask that.." or any other question if she wanted a more ELOQUENT response. "but.. to me.. you.. are the hottest person in town."