Lyndon sat with his head between his legs, eyes shut as he concentrated very, very hard on not being sick all over himself. The constant rocking of the wagon was not making it any easier.

"You appear ill," Kormac oh-so-helpfully pointed out, as if it were something he may not have been aware of.

"Really?" Lyndon snarled, not even bothering to open his eyes, "Thank you for that excellent observation. I can't even imagine how you can't get a woman with your stunning intellect."

Kormac sputtered indignantly, and while he struggled to think of words it was Eirena who jumped to his defense.

"There is no need to be cruel, Lyndon," she chided sternly, "He was only trying to help."

"He can help by shutting up." Lyndon refused to admit any irony in him telling others to stop talking and leave him alone.

If either Kormac or Eirena were preparing a retort it was lost as the sound of an explosion drew their attention. Lyndon quickly raised his head, adrenaline temporarily suppressing the urge to vomit.

It had sounded like a grenade, likely one of Valla's, which would mean she had run into something dangerous. The caravan came to a halt and without a word, the enchantress and former templar both leapt from the wagon and rushed toward the source of the noise, weapons ready.

Lyndon had his borrowed hand crossbow beside him and he picked it up, unfolding it as he examined it. He turned the weapon over in his hand, wondering if he should try to help. It wasn't that he didn't trust his companions to make short work of their enemies, but he despised feeling like he was in someone's debt.

Not that he didn't already owe the lot of them a great deal. And he suspected he would owe them quite a bit more if he misfired and struck one of them in the back. Imagine, the great nephalem, destroyer of countless demons, killed by an errant bolt from her incompetent companion. Wouldn't that be something to be known for.

With a defeated sigh, Lyndon folded the weapon and set it back down.

"A wise decision."

Lyndon looked up and spotted Myriam watching him calmly from just outside the door to her wagon. He was going to take it as a good sign that she did not seem concerned about the fate of their companions.

"I don't know," Lyndon replied with instinctual sarcasm, "The battles have been too easy as of late, don't you think? If someone got shot it would at least make things exciting."

Myriam smiled. "I wouldn't worry. I think you will find things plenty exciting soon enough."

Lyndon was not given the chance to question her further, and he could not shake the feeling that she had planned it that way; Valla, Kormac, and Eirena approached just in time to interrupt.

None of them appeared injured, though Valla was covered in what looked (and smelled) like the innards of some unfortunate creature. Maybe several of them. "Goatmen," she explained nonchalantly as she scraped the larger bits off her armor, "They were following us. They aren't anymore."

"You don't say," Lyndon replied, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He did not think he would ever be used to the scent of death, and it disturbed him a bit that none of the others seemed bothered by it.

Valla did, however, appear mildly perturbed by the state of her equipment. She inspected one of her blood-soaked gauntlets and frowned. "There is a river not far from here. Once we reach it let us camp for the night. I would rather this not have a chance to set in."

Lyndon felt an odd sort of calm wash over him as he stood at the bank of the river, staring out over the swirling water. Someone observing him might have thought he was moved by the peaceful sound of flowing water or the ethereal beauty of the sky as the sun dipped below the horizon, but honestly he was just relieved that his hangover was finally gone and that he'd been given an opportunity to get clean.

He did not think much of it when his moment of solitude was interrupted by Valla's approach; it wasn't until she stopped to stand beside him that he remembered he had been avoiding getting caught alone with her. There was no getting away from it now in a way that didn't involve literally running.

And really, he was getting tired of running.

When Valla spoke, her voice was so low he could scarcely hear it over the constant hum of running water.

"I'm sorry."

"Pardon?" He wasn't sure he had heard her correctly, and if he had he could think of no reason she would be apologizing.

Valla wasn't looking at him, instead opting to focus on some point on the opposite bank of the river. "I promised to go with you to Kingsport twice now, and I have failed to honor it either time."

"Ah." Lyndon had been doing his best not to think about Kingsport, but the desire to know the truth about his brother's death still burned within him. "Well, it's probably still there if you want to visit. The slums are lovely this time of year. Breeding season for the rats, you see."

Valla turned to face him, her newly-polished armor shimmering a bit in the dying light. "Is that what you want?"

He laughed bitterly. "No. I want none of this to have ever happened. I want my brother to still be alive. I want to have died in his place. I want..."

Lyndon hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and kissed her.

At least, he tried to. Valla had always been faster than him, and she easily stepped away before any contact was made, leaving him to stumble forward slightly like a fool.

He quickly straightened himself, forcing a laugh. "Alright, but you have no idea what you are missing." He could barely get the words past the lump in his throat.

Valla was silent, watching him, stoic and calculating. He found himself suddenly and irrationally furious; how was it she could be so gods-damned calm while he stood there feeling like the air was slowly being sucked out of him? It wasn't fair, nothing was ever fair, he wished that just once in his cursed life-

"You could have asked."

Lyndon's anger was tempered by confusion as he tried to make sense of her statement. Valla went back to watching him quietly, but this time he looked at her more closely.

She was ever-so-slightly shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and though Valla kept her eyes on him her gaze periodically darted to the side. Her hands were at her sides, but her right thumb was slowly spinning the ring on her middle finger.

Sweet Akarat, she was nervous.

He had never even seen her look nervous before. Or maybe he just hadn't been paying enough attention. Maybe he had misread the entire situation.

Maybe he should say something instead of standing there like an idiot.

Lyndon was much more accustomed to taking what he wanted than he was to asking for it, but he was smart enough to know that some things simply couldn't be forced. Somewhat nervous himself, he had to fight to keep the question from coming out sarcastically; if he truly had a shot with her, he was not going to blow it here.

"Well then... may I kiss you?"

For a beat she was still, and then Valla nodded.

Determined to act before anything could go wrong, Lyndon stepped closer to her and leaned forward, delighted when she did not pull away this time.

It was, however, immediately obvious that she hadn't a clue what she was doing. She froze up the moment his lips touched hers, and though he was able to coax some movement out of her the entire ordeal was so fantastically awkward that he had to pull away on account of the fact that he was laughing too hard to continue.

Nervous energy kept him laughing for far longer than he normally would have, and when he managed to mostly regain his composure he could not resist saying to her, "You are positively awful at this."

Valla frowned at him, not looking the least bit amused, and glanced over her shoulder as if she may have been planning to flee.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized hastily, though still with a smile on his face, "It's just... you're usually so much better at everything than I am. I'm... not used to seeing you like this."

She looked away from him and started fidgeting more aggressively with her ring. "I've never done anything like this before."

"That much is clear."

Another frown. He was going to have to stop pushing his luck before she changed her mind, but damn she was making it easy.

He beamed at her, mood significantly brighter than it had been in weeks. "Don't you worry, you're in luck! You have the best teacher in Sanctuary."