The Group™ has been on the road for a bit now, but he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to really… y’know talk to any of them one-on-one. It’s a lot of Cupid filling the air whenever he feels awkward, and it maybe shows more than it should, because he rambles. It’s just who he is.

The boy feels odd about how everything went down — the betrayal, the rainforest being left behind, but it’s a decision he stands by nonetheless. The cycle would continue. There’s no end to people willing to stab you in the back there.

So they collect who wants to go and they go.

Aarani is among them; she needs a spa break just as much as they do, maybe even more. He doesn’t know her very well, but he does know he’s liked her from the start. Riptide’s judgment of people does that, and so does their affiliation with healing.

So, when he sees an opening, he slides over towards Aarani’s side to walk beside her.

{“Thanks for, uhmm… coming with us,”} he says with a shy smile, obviously interested in carrying on a conversation with her. {“You doin’ okay?”}