Chapter 15 - 14. Observation
"Pick me up?" Zein tilted his head in confusion.
Bassena just nodded casually, but his piercing eyes were trained on the hands holding tight to Zein's arm. "We're having dinner in the guest lounge, so come with me," he said, and then added as he felt Zein would refuse. "You need to familiarize yourself with the team to ease our coordination."
His eyes kept staring at Zein's arm, so much so that the petite guide that had been holding into it flinched. The round green eyes glanced at Bassena, and met his sharp, disapproving gaze, which prompted the young man to let go of Zein's arm as if he just touched a hot pan.
The petite guide seemed to be quick-witted, since he immediately retreated behind a desk, grinning sheepishly beneath the mask. An understanding light flashed in his eyes as he looked back and forth between Bassena and Zein. From the look of it, there was a high probability that some kind of rumor would circulate within the Unit after this.
Good, Bassena smiled deeply. Spread it far.
Meanwhile, he could see further confusion inside the pretty blue eyes, the guide's mind churning. It was to be expected, since guides did not usually need to familiarize themselves with a strike team. The espers needed coordination, but the guides' job inside a field was simple; staying back as far as possible from the battlefield, staying alive, and guiding the espers when the time came.
So Zein never thought that there was a need for him to get close to a team that he would only accompany for two weeks, and then never encountered again. He'd met them during the briefing before the expedition anyway.
If it was other guides, like Yath for example, they would spring to their feet immediately. It was an invitation from the Serpent Lord himself after all. The man could just ask someone, even their Captain, to convey the invitation, but he came himself.
Yes, if it was other people, they would take it as an honor to merely be included in the Mortix Group and Trinity Guild dinner meeting, much more being invited directly by the one with the highest rank there. But now, Bassena wanted to laugh, because he could see the blatant reluctance inside the blue eyes.
Well, as expected of someone who rejected him without batting an eye. Rather than making him upset, it felt like a challenge instead.
'What kind of things I must do for my existence to be planted inside his mind?' was what Bassena thinking as he looked at the pondering guide.