"You look amazing," Chase continues. This is the first time since she got here that she genuinely thinks Ana looks comfortable in her own skin.
¨This is definitely my style,¨ Ana says, doing a small spin. ¨Plus, since the leggings fit right I can move around well, and it's a safe outfit to wear if we go outside," It hurts Chase's heart a little to think that Anas only been here a few days, and she's already thinking like a survivor. It's good that she's adapting quickly, but it still makes Chase's chest feel tight knowing that a few days ago if she was buying clothes, she questioned if it would look good paired with the shoes she was wearing; now she's thinking how well she could run for her life and swing a blade in it. ¨Chase?¨ When Chase leaves her thoughts, she sees Ana looking at her, brow furrowed. ¨Are you okay? I called you like four times,¨ Ana asks her, looking genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just got distracted for a minute." Chase smiles. The girls switch places, and Chase goes into the back room and changes into the outfit Ana gave her. Moments later, she's walking out, and Ana is already squealing.
"Oh my god! you look great!" Ana says, manually spinning Chase around to see the entire outfit. Fully dressed in a pair of black military-style cargo pants that tucked into black steel-toed work boots, with a decked out belt equipt with holsters for a variety of weapons. Along with that, a camo printed tank top with a thin jacket over it. Chase moves her arms around, trying to get a feel for how well she can move in it. After deciding that her range of movement was pretty good, she sort of slides her hands around the belt holster. "Whatcha doing?" Ana asks, confusion evident.
"I'm making sure that if I put weapons in this holster I can get them out quick enough that I won't get attacked, but they won't fall out either." Eventually, Chase decides that she really does like this outfit, and it's also convenient. The rest of the day was filled with smiles as Ana and Chase tried on clothes, and Ana forced Chase into helping decorate since she was a few inches taller than Ana. The strung lights that Ana made out of little mason jars and Christmas lights up, laid out more furs and fluffy skins, taped their essential papers and maps onto the stone walls, and laid out big hides from the creatures that first attacked Ana when she appeared in The Gone and used them as make-shift rugs.
"What are these things anyway?" Ana says, laying out and flattening another hide.
"We call them Aspers. They're basically like," Chase hesitates, flailing a hand, "they're the most common thing you're gonna find around here. And if you run into one, you know there's at least three more behind it. They travel in packs, like wolves. That's what they're most closely related to. Or at least we think so. They have a wolf-like mentality too. If you hurt one of their pack, at least one will stay back to protect it, even if it means giving up on chasing you. They also hunt for food, not for sport. What they hunt, they eat. They don't waste a single damn piece of flesh." Chase's voice slowly gets quieter as she talks, and soon her head is in her hands, palms flat against her eyes.
"Chase," Ana says, not planning on continuing. It was meant as more of a gesture to show she was listening, and that Chase could continue if she wanted to. Ana scoots a little closer to Chase, slowly placing a hand on her back. She feels Chase tense up, and she stills her hand, but does not move away. As Chase relaxes under her touch, she slowly rubs her hand up and down chases back in a motion of comfort. It's a sad silence for a few minutes until Chase speaks up.
"I can't," She starts, drawing in a shaky breath. "I can't talk about it yet," She breathes in once again, "It's too soon, I just," She cuts herself off by breathing in again. Ana stills her movement on Chase's back and runs her hand up the back of Chase's neck, wrapping her fingers over Chase's right shoulder loosely.
"Chase, breath out for me," Chase exhales, and Ana reaches over and grabs her hand tightly. "It's okay." Chase opens her mouth to speak again, presumably to apologize, "Hey," Ana cuts her off though and just nods at her, a soft bob of her head, nothing more. A gesture that Chase needn't say anything else on the matter if she doesn't want to. A few moments go by in silence, Chase collecting herself before speaking. Ana goes to let go of her hand and pull back, but surprisingly Chase reaches out and grabs it again, not quite ready to let go, still feeling like she needed something to hold on to. Like she needed to hold on to Ana. Once again, Ana responds with a soft, hushed, "Okay," and wraps her fingers back around Chase's.
"I've lost a lot of people to this place. Good, strong people. And it just-" Chase cuts herself off, pursing her lips, squeezing Ana's hands, "It just makes me so angry. To think I couldn't do anything to save them. That I wouldn't be able to save you." Chase finished. And as Ana looks into her eyes, she realizes that the sadness she thought she saw in Chase, was everything but. When she looked at Chase now, she saw a spark, that flame of anger engulfing her.
"You did save me," Ana says, with a small smile. Chase's gaze softens at her. "Chase, you already saved me. If it weren't for you, those Aspers would have eaten me alive out there." Chase closes her eyes. Ana moves her hand up, brushing her thumb across Chase's cheek. "But they didn't. Because of you. You risked your life to save some random girl you found on the bottom of the forest floor, covered in blood, confused out of her mind." She drops her hand back down to Chase's, "But you grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and forced me to run like hell. You didn't leave me behind when you so simply could have." Chase slowly opens her eyes. One last time, Ana repeats it, "You did save me." Chase just smiles at her and leans her forehead against Ana's shoulder, suddenly exhausted. Ana just lifts her free arm, smoothing Chase's hair back. "Everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna make this place our home, okay? We don't have a choice, so let's make the best of it." Ana whispers. "Do you trust me?" Ana asks, pulling back, forcing Chase to move and look at her.
Chase looks into Ana's eyes; her eyes were hues of the forest, surrounded with dark moss. It was the kind of earthy green that revives the grass after a cruel, unforgiving winter. Interwoven shades hiding the chaotic nature behind. Never before have eyes held such danger and beauty all at once. A wildfire: reckless, untamed, yet undeniably captivating. That emerald green that, even in the darkest times can be that light that shows you the way home. The beacon of hope in the dreariest of days. And there, at that moment. Chase knew the exact answer. She had already found her home.
"How could I not?"