The shouting froze Flare's entire body and her fist halted mere inches from its target. Her eyes slowly widened as she realized who she was looking at. Pressed against the elevated dais, face illuminated by the orange glow from her fire, was the same person she had been worried sick about—the red-haired boy she had hired the previous day.
"Fucking damn it!" He hissed and backed away. "I swear to god if you-"
"You…" Flare opened her mouth, but the words betrayed her. She glanced at her burning fist and quickly retracted it, shaking her hand to put out the fire. "You're safe…"
"Safe? Yeah, I was safe, until you almost burned my face off." He clicked his tongue. "And here I was trying not to startle you. What's the goddamn point if you're going to attack anyway?"
She stared at him for a moment then narrowed her eyes.
"You sneak up on me in this situation and you expect me not to get startled?"
"Would an enemy tap you on the shoulder in the middle of a fight?"
