She felt him not hugging her back and he would feel her falter before she pulled away, her hands leaving him as she turned to go sort through her things.
She looked up at him in surprise before giving him a small smile. “Don’t worry,” she said gently. “You don’t have to hug me if you don’t want to. I get it.”
She raised her hands in surrender, tilting her head. “You don’t have to feel badly, Zerras. You don’t want to. That’s okay.”
She laughed a little, tilting her head. “You don’t need to apologize, Z. I’m the one who overstepped. I should’ve known you wouldn’t want to hug me. It’s okay.”
She frowned but returned to her work, warming her hands by the fire as she pulled her cloak tighter around herself.
She gave him a smile, but kept her distance from him, maintaining about a foot of space between them.
She seemed very confused. “I... I’m sorry, Zerras. I’m just trying to do what you want. Do you want me to be near you or not? I’ll do what you want me to do, just tell me what to do.”
