Different From Expected

Crow was aware that he was a loud and aggressive person. It wasn't hard to notice that. He never felt like he needed to change that about himself, though. He liked being that way.

However, he had noticed he could be a little… Scary for shyer and quieter people. He noticed that with Cyan the most. She always seemed to coil a little whenever he shouted.

He had learned to control his volume a little more around her. He didn't want her to be scared of him enough to think he'd be a bad person. If possible, he wanted to get close enough to her for her to know that without him needing to hold back.

One day, they had been the ones picked to go on shopping duty for everyone. Which meant they would spent just a few hours together that evening.

It went by quite nicely. Nothing very eventful happening. They were just making small talk on their way back. That is, until Cyan had tripped. Screaming as she hit the floor with the bags in her hands.

"Are you okay!?" Crow crouched next to her helping her sit up.

She didn't even need to say anything. He immediately saw her bleeding leg.

He helped her with getting in a more comfortable position, her back leaning on a wall. Then he had started going through some of the bags they had been carrying (fortunately, first aid supplies were one of the things they had just bought).

He used the water from a water bottle to help her with cleaning the wound, then dabbed some napkins on it to dry it.

“It doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches…” He chuckled as he wrapped some bandages around her leg.

She managed to giggle as well. "Thank you, Crow."

"Can you walk?"

Cyan stood up, then tried taking a few steps forward. "It still hurts a little, but I'll manage."

He smiled. Good. She was okay now.

They grabbed their bags again and resumed their walk. But Crow did notice that she seemed much more silent than before…

"Are you okay? You seem quiet."

"Huh? Oh, nothing. It's just…" She looked down at her leg. "You were better than I expected at doing the bandages."

"Oh, that." He shrugged. "I've had quite a lot of practice. You've gotta know how to patch up a wound or two when you get hurt in the farm all the time."

"Farm?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hm, yeah? I grew up in one. Did we never tell you that?"

"No…"

Crow was a little surprised at that. Cyan had already been around for so long. He was surprised no one had even mentioned it to her…

She giggled. "Y'know, Crow, you're kinda different from what I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… You are always so loud and - I wouldn't say 'aggressive' but more like… Excited. It did kind of scare me at first." Oh, so it was how he thought it would be. "But, you seem to have a very nice and kind side to you as well. Plus, you're very fun to be around." She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but think about how cute it was.

His cheeks burned. She thought he was nice? She liked having him around?

He cleared his throat, looking away from her as he spoke. "W-well, of course you'd be having fun."

"Sure! Maybe… Maybe we should hang out more!"

Crow was taken back by her proposal for a second. It wasn't like her to be so forward… "S-sure!"

Cyan then started humming during their whole way back, and Crow couldn't help but join in. He did like seeing this side of her, seeing her push her shyness aside for a bit.

Maybe she was a bit different from what he had expected as well. But he wouldn't mind closing the distance more. Not at all.