After Laurel let go, Nic went for a water pack and drank most of it.

--

So Raven got Frei a bandage and started to put it on her hand.

Without something to hold onto Laurel slowly sat back down. She felt terrible... like a hangover but ten times worse.

--

Frei blinked up at him, a little confused.

Then Nic started to snack on some of the food rations.

--

Raven kept bandaging her hand and gave it a kiss when he was done.

Laurel stayed where she was, the exhaustion coming back as the emotional high faded.

--

That got a microscopic smile out of Frei.

After awhile, Nic offered Laurel some water.

--

Raven pretended not to notice. "... If you want to keep her, you have to be able to take care of her," he repeated quietly.

Laurel took it and sipped it slowly, eyes blinking heavily.

--

Frei snorted a little and patted the top of the panther's head again. The panther began to purr and Frei gave Raven a smug look.

Before Laurel fell asleep, Nic took a look at her feet to see how they were healing.

--

"And Ryugi has to say yes," Raven added.

She hadn't re-bandaged them since she'd hurriedly done so on the boat and they looked a bit infected. Laurel complained a little as he touched them.

--

Frei shrugged a little, she didn't seem worried about that. She had her Ryuji wrapped around her little finger.

Nic ignored her complaints and got some supplies before cleaning, disinfecting, and re-bandaging her feet. So he could take care of her too.

Laurel complained groggily the whole way through but didn't fight it too much. When he was done she attempted to crawl towards him on her knees.

Nic didn't let Laurel get too close as he started to stand and walk off again.

And so Laurel burst into tears, well... not many tears because of her dehydration.

Nic seemed confused as he turned back to look at Laurel. He didn't pause long though as he gathered a few more things from the pod. He came back and gave Laurel some more water before collecting some wood... and it looked like he planned on starting a fire.

Laurel continued to cry though she tuckered out pretty fast, "Y-You hate... m-me n... n-now!" she claimed brokenly.

"... No," Nic replied calmly as he kept working on the fire.

And so, as happened only when she got over tired, Laurel got whiny. "Yes... y-you do!" she argued before hiding her face in her hands dramatically.