Apex

Chapter 7

•Kriss•

Sweat ran down my face as my world swayed to the rhythm of Zoryne's footsteps. Nausea turned my stomach and if I had anything to throw up I'm sure it would have made an appearance by now. Swaying around blindly has my head spinning and combined with the stuffy heat I don't know how much more of this I could take.

"Zoryne?" I choked, riding out another wave of nausea. "Zoryne!"

Light suddenly filled my prison and I shut my eyes against it. His fingers wrapped around me and lifted me up as if I weighed nothing.

And to him I probably did.

"What is it, R... Kriss," He amended. Locks of hair stuck to my face with sweat. The fresh air in my lungs almost had me crying in relief. I would kill for some water though.

"I can't stay in there," I pointed down to his pocket. "It's hot and stuffy and I'm getting dizzy-"

"Well I'm not carrying you like this for the entire walk to the facility," he said plainly. "You're going to have to deal with it." He began lowering me again.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I rushed to think of an alternative. He huffed a sigh, already done with this conversation. "Re-remember when you had to crawl through the rubble and you had me let me use your collar as-"

"No. You're not doing that again," he said with a tone of finality.

"And why not?"

"You'd rather hug my neck like a 'sloth' for hours than sit in my pocket and wait?"

"Well humans experience something called heat stroke and they can die if the temperature is too-"

"I know what heat stroke is," he pinched the bridge if his nose. "You will not get heat stroke."

"But I'm getting dizzy," I insisted on the brink of begging. If I had to sit stuffy darkness for another minute I would lose what was left of my sanity. "And unless you want to clean vomit off your pants I would suggest Ahh!" I screamed as his hand rose without warning. He brought me up past his chest and to his shoulder. He started to release his grip and I grabbed his fingers, eyes wide as I took in his height. I was several stories off the ground with nothing to catch me if I slipped.

"Is there a problem, Kriss?" He asked sounding smug. He gave his fingers a little shake. I lost my grip and dropped on my hands and knees to his shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut. Clenching fist-fulls of his shirt, I peaked up towards his neck. His head was tilted and he eyed me with a smirk on his face. "Don't tell me this is too high for you." He chuckled darkly, causing his shoulders to shake. I squeaked and hugged the ground as it trembled. My cheeks heated.

I could do this. I could do this. I could do this.

I crawled towards the thick column of his neck, keeping my eyes forward and not at the ground stories below me. Once I reached the wall of blue skin, I stole myself and lifted my arms, hugging it with all my might. I even rapped my legs around it for good measure. Pressed my face into it, my head tucked right below his jawbone. The pressure on my ribs made my eyes tear, but I couldn't let go. I had zero confidence in my ability to balance on my own.

He stopped laughing. I felt his muscles tense. We stayed still, at a sort of standoff. I wasn't going back into that pocket and he hated me touching him in this way.

Well, if he wanted me to move he'd have to pry me off himself because I couldn't move even if I wanted to.

And I really, really didn't want to.