Chapter 13: Underneath The Shades
"No rece-ption," Felicia shivered as she spoke with her phone held up.
whitish fog drifted out of her mouth and her nose, hinting that she was very cold at the moment.
"Whe-re the did th-is come from? The wea-ther fore-cast didn't men-tion any rain," Felicia muttered as she folded her hands together with her shoulders getting trembling.
"Nature cannot be entirely predicted so don't put your trust in any of those," Azaroth responded with his hands in his jacket pocket while he stared at the sky with an unbothered expression.
Felicia turned to the side and could see that he wasn't even fazed by the whole weather. He looked completely fine.
"How did you know that we needed to get shelter?" She remembered what happened a while ago.
"The air just smelled a bit suspicious is all... I've been in this situation countless times," Azaroth responded while turning to the side.
Felicia kept staring at him with a look of suspicion, 'He's so mysterious... I wish to uncover a bit about him but he won't let me in,' Felicia thought with a disappointed feeling settling in her mind.
Azaroth could actually sense nature a lot because he was a creature that not only loved nature but was born of it as well. He could already hear the rain traveling towards the earth from the clouds above earlier which was the reason for his quick actions since he didn't want to get drenched.
"You're cold?" Azaroth muttered as he noticed Felicia trying to hide her occasional trembles.
"I'm fine," She muttered while trying to retain a strong look.
Azaroth proceeded to turn his head away after hearing that, 'I should refrain from committing acts that will further brighten her impression of me,' He said internally.
After a few moments, his eyes flickered with emotions as he recalled some memories and looked down.
'Sigh... I guess just this one time,' He thought while sighing inwardly before proceeding to take off his jacket.
Azaroth turned to the side and grabbed Felicia before pulling her closer to him.
Her eyes widened with confusion as she stared at his face which was staring down on hers expressionless as always.
"Jonathan..." She muttered underneath her breath as her cheeks turned flushed and her temperature suddenly rose.
Azaroth proceeded to raise the jacket and wrap it around her from behind.
"Here," He muttered while properly covering her with it before turning to look forward again.
Felicia's cheeks had turned beet red at this point. Fortunately for her, it wasn't visible since they were under the cover of the tree shade which caused the environment to be dimly lit.
She breathed in Azaroth's strong masculine scent with a dazed expression as she felt warmth envelop her underneath the cover of his brown jacket.
"Thank you," She muttered with a shy tone as she also turned to look up ahead trying to hide her shy expression.
"It's fine," Azaroth responded as he continued looking up ahead.
They both stood in place silently for several minutes as the rain continued to pour heavily.
Azaroth proceeded to lean his back against the tree while folding his arms with a slightly disturbed expression.
Even though Felicia was currently being covered by his Jacket the rain would still occasionally be blown towards them causing them to get drenched.
It was only a matter of time before both of them completely got soaked and Felicia would go back to shivering since even his Jacket would be wet.
'This doesn't seem like it'd stop anytime soon,' Azaroth said internally as he looked up again.
The bad reception made phone calls and internet usage impossible so they couldn't contact anyone to come help them out of their current predicament.
Azaroth could easily get out of this situation but not without revealing that he had supernatural abilities.
They could only wait there and see how things would turn out.
"Jonathan..." Felicia called out to him from the side.
"Hmm?" He mumbled while turning to look at her.
"Why do you act so distant to everyone?" She asked while also turning to the side to stare back at him.
Both of them shared eye contact for a few moments before Azaroth turned to look forward again.
"I want to be alone... I don't want to share connections with anyone," He didn't know why but he just felt compelled to reveal the truth.
"...But... Why?" Felicia asked with a look of confusion.
"I don't like people," This time Azaroth responded with a lie.
"Hmm, or you don't just like socializing... You don't strike me as someone who dislikes people. You seem more like you're avoiding making connections with them for a reason... Maybe a past trauma or something..." Felicia voiced out with a contemplative expression.
Azaroth remained silent at this point, neither confirming nor dismissing the theory.
"You don't have to tell me anything it's fine... What about your family members? At least they should be able to keep you company," She inquired.
"I don't have a family..." Azaroth responded with a straight face.
"Oh... I'm sorry about that..." Felicia assumed the worst as she spoke. She didn't want to look nosy so she didn't ask more questions about that.
"No need for apologies... it doesn't matter," He responded with a dismissive tone.
Even though he had no form of expression on his face whatsoever, Felicia could sense this indisputable loneliness he exuded from his being.
"I understand that you just wanna be alone but if you ever need someone to talk to I'm h..." Before Felicia could complete her statement Azaroth cut her off.
"It's fine,"
His cold response caused Felicia to subconsciously step back a little.
"I just want to be your friend... there's no harm in letting someone in. Having someone to share conversations with, does more good than harm I promise," Felicia said with a soft tone.
"I said it's fine Felicia," Azaroth responded again. This time with a strong tone, leaving no room for arguments.
"...Oh... Alright then," She muttered with a defeated expression before turning to look forward.
'Of course, you'd think there's no harm in letting you in... but in the long run you'll understand just how wrong you are,' Azaroth said internally, not regretting that he had just shut Felicia down.
The place turned silent again for the next twenty minutes as the rain continued to shower down.
"We'll have to finish the project tomorrow since it's already late..." Felicia broke the silence again.
"Sure, we'll meet in the main library..." He responded with a nod.
This way Felicia's plans to bring Azaroth to her place were all thrown into the gutter along with all the interesting scenarios she fantasized about in her mind.
Felicia subconsciously let out a low sigh as the rain kept pouring.
At this point, they were both wet and waiting for the rain to stop. It had been falling for two hours already and it was already past 9 pm.
After a few more minutes Azaroth looked up, "Finally," He muttered underneath his breath.
Felicia turned to stare at him with a slightly confused expression hearing him say that.
Pit... Pat... Pit... Pat...
The rain suddenly started to reduce.
In a manner of seconds, it was only drizzling and had stopped falling heavily like before.
"It's stopping..?" Felicia voiced out as she moved forward a little.
"Finally..." She also voiced out and then remembered Azaroth said the same word seconds ago.
"How did you..? Never mind," She donned a smile as she kept walking forward.
Azaroth followed after her and they walked back towards the car.
On their way there the rain had stopped falling completely, however, the side of the road was pretty muddy.
Felicia slid and lost control of her movement but Azaroth was able to grab her before her face planted into the mud.
"Be careful..." He said while slowly lifting her and placing her on another part of the road.
"Thanks..." She muttered with an embarrassed expression before moving towards the tarred part of the road.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone