Coden sat between Layne and Troy, shaking. Even the lousy table in front of them wasn't sturdy enough against his arms resting on its surface. Layne tried his best to ignore him – as hard as it was.

He stared up at Victor through the corners of his eyes. Of course, the old asshole wouldn't even take a seat – he had to stand in front of them with all of his height. Smiling, of course.

Always smiling.

"We were worried, you know," he said.

'As if' – Layne managed to contain the words inside him. That doesn't happen often – either he's been improving, or maybe, the situation called for it.

"The rules are there for a reason," Victor continued. "Just as the punishment."

"We d-didn't mean i-it," Coden stuttered. His hands slipped through the surface of the table and dropped down on his lap. "We got lost."

"You wouldn't have ever gotten lost if you would have stayed to the safe paths."

Layne sighed. "It's not like we risked anyone else but ourselves. Big deal."

"We had people looking for you! We got lucky everyone returned safely."

"Well then, maybe you shouldn't have sent anyone?"

Their eyes met. For a mere moment, Victor's smile was replaced by a slight frown. That didn't last, tho. It's like he didn't know how to keep up a serious expression.

"Just can't keep you still." His voice lowered. He tilted his head to one side and stared right at Layne. More than unpleasant.

"Yeah."

Victor closed his eyes. A few moments later, he turned around. Layne laughed to himself on the inside – it looked exactly like the man was purposely overdramatising the situation. Almost as if he imagined it being a movie or a play.

A long pause followed. Boring one, at that. If at first Layne had some worried about Victor doing something drastic, he now knew that wasn't the case. That man wouldn't have taken that long to think of it. He didn't do anything like that before.

"So?" Layne rushed him.

The elder's head snapped to his direction. He wasn't startled – far from it. Annoyed, perhaps. "I'll let you off, this time. Because no one got hurt."

"Awesome." Layne stood to leave, followed by Troy. Coden still hesitated.

"Start thinking more before you do things," Victor added. "You're on my radar."

Layne scoffed. They exited the cabin located near the centre of the village. Coden followed soon after.

"You're on my radar," Layne mocked. "Come on, he's been on me for like forever."

Troy shook his head in apparent disapproval. He's been silent for a while now – ever since last night. It wasn't even worth mentioning, though. That wasn't something unusual.

Coden sped up towards their cabin. Even then, he was visibly shaking. Layne couldn't help it but feel bad for him. He was a child, basically.

"Coden, you're ok?" he asked.

"I don't want anything else to do with you." It sounded like he had it hard to squeeze out the words. Although his face wasn't in sight, it wasn't hard to tell Coden was crying.

Layne decided to leave him be and slowed down. Soon enough, the guy was far away from them.

"Nothing happened," Layne whispered. "It could have been worse."

Troy sighed. "You should stop biting your lips. That's a bad habit."

"Well, you know, some people consider it being sexy," Layne teased. Smiling did make his lips sore a little.

"It's not. It's bleeding down your chin."

The man wiped his fingers across his jaw and held them up. Sure enough, red liquid smeared the skin. That was just an annoyance, at this point. He pressed hard on the aching spots, hoping to stop the bleeding.

Maybe he's been just a tad bit more nervous than he allowed himself to comprehend.

* * *

Troy was feeding Cat. Again. The dog now dared to get close to him. So close, that it was already sniffing out traces of food that had fallen from the man's pockets – right beside him. Layne watched them from a distance.

Few more minutes and Troy gave a little nod, still watching the dog. Layne approached, stopping after each step. Cat's body tensed up. He let out a quiet growl and fixated his eyes into the man. Layne dropped a few pieces of food nearby.

Although Cat still wouldn't trust him – far from it, this time, he didn't run away. Watching him, he snapped the food off the ground and stepped back, waiting for more.

"Soon enough it'll bring its whole pack here," Layne commented.

"Yeah, probably."

"How are you gonna deal with that?"

Troy shrugged. "We'll see when we get there."

Layne laughed. They stood there, dropping pieces of food one after another. Almost as soon as the last bite was tossed, the dog ran back into the forest. It knew. That was astonishing.

Even after Cat had left, the men stayed in place. Layne didn't have anything better to do, anyway. Neither did Troy, he assumed. The sun was setting, anyway – just a little more and they'd have to return to the cabin. So say the rules.

"So, did you have a dog in Eumain?" Layne started the conversation.

Troy hesitated. To the point where Layne considered backing off of the question. "No."

"Got it. Me neither. I think I prefer cats." He received a glare, which forced him to keep speaking. "I didn't have a cat, tho."

Troy crossed his arms over his chest and leaned backwards until his back touched the nearby tree. His eyes focused on the ground below him and just like that, Layne assumed that the conversation was over.

A few minutes later, however, as he was about to leave the man alone, Troy spoke, "we were planning to get one, later."

"Who's 'we' and when's 'later'?"

Troy's eyes darted up fast enough to make Layne jump. He did not expect them to be so cold. He promptly turned his head away as to avoid the look and nipped a leaf off a tree. Absolutely not making it weirder.

"My wife and I," Troy scowled. "Sometime later. Doesn't matter."

Layne raised his eyebrows and ripped the leaf in half. Those shutting up skills would have come in handy just about then. Too bad. "You're married?"

"Yes."

Troy took a few steps around the tree, perfectly turning his back at Layne. That was the best sign of not wanting to continue one could get. Not that it was good enough. Not for Layne. Not when he has gotten curious.

"So what about the dog?" he inquired.

The bald man muttered something below his nose, more to himself than to anyone else. Definitely not Layne. At the very least, he couldn't understand a single word. Or if there were words, to begin with.

He realised he was still holding the two leaf pieces, crumbling them had already made his fingertips turn green. Layne threw them to the side and rubbed his hands into his pants before sitting down. The respect he had for Troy somewhat helped him to keep his tongue in place, for now. Yet, he wouldn't leave.

Time passed. Sun set. Behind the trees, in the village, people began returning to their cabins. Layne could hear them chattering loudly as if everyone around wanted to hear about their daily adventures of weeding or whatever it was they did.

"We had a plan," said Troy. He seemed to have calmed down, even turned around to face Layne once again. "First, we get married. Then we buy ourselves a house. Then we have a child or two. Then comes the dog."

"Sounds solid enough." Layne thought for a few moments. His being, of course, would have continued the interrogation if that would have been just about any other person. Troy still looked reserved, though – at least that's what Layne guessed the expression was telling. The man was just a little more difficult to read than anyone else, too. Which only made him more interesting to hang out with. "Everyone's returning inside already."

Troy nodded. "Let's not make Victor mad at us again, shall we?"

"Wouldn't that be horrific," Layne chuckled.

* * *

Everyone else was already in the cabin when they entered. As always. Zander has already started the fire, which, as the weather was getting warmer, would mostly be used as a light source only. According to the brothers, eventually, it'll be too hot to light it, leaving them with just a few candles.

Coden laid face-down on his pallet. It's been a few days and he still hasn't talked to him. Even more so, he barely talked to just about anyone except for Remy. Something was up with him – everyone has noticed that. Everyone was talking about that, too.

Layne glanced at the table. Boiled eggs for dinner. Not the worst possible option. As soon as he sat down, Malia and Alana occupied both seats beside him.

"Did you talk to Remy?" whispered Layne, glaring at Coden to make sure he wasn't listening.

Alana nodded in agreement.

"We think we know what could be wrong." Malia leaned closer to him. "We'll talk tomorrow, by the lake."

"Alright."

Layne cracked the egg into the table. He wasn't entirely sure why was he getting himself into the whole 'Coden is upset about something' business. Yet, after the night in the forest, he was almost sure it had to be his fault. Somehow.

At first, he thought that the guy was just scared – of the animals, of Victor or whatever. As time went by, however, those theories had to be dismissed.

Now, he could only hope that the women of the cabin were on to something.