Claire POV-

"Why are you so quiet today? Did something bad happen?" Jordan asked Champwan

He had arrived home before her, when she got back from building with Wag he was waiting in the living room for her but he seemed upset about something.

Going to the Nether was a rough trip for everyone, hence why people avoided it like the plague. Jordan thought that after dinner he would feel better but he just had this distant stare.

Though he was a very quiet guy, thats not how he had been with her as of late. They spent hours a day talking, never running out of things to say and genuinely enjoying each other's company.

To break the ice, they began talking about Nvidia for a bit, it was a very popular subject as of late. Jordan found out that no one had seen him today, it was like he just vanished.

Though Nvidia wasn't killing people 24/7, he still made an appearance at least once day from what Jordan was told. No doubt everyone was probably locked in their vaults today.

Though Jordan had finished the outlines of hers, it still wasn't finished but at least it was functional. As for the others, they all asked help from the wizards and most vaults were finished by now.

Once she could go back home, that would be her main priority. Though the gods could probably get through with ease, it was still a good defense to have.

When Jordan and Champwan began getting ready to go to bed she wondered if it was a good idea to tell him about her dream with Akemi. He seemed burdened enough today and she didn't want to add on to it.

Instead she had decided to ask him about his troubles. He spent his time living with others burdens, maybe he just needed someone to do the same for him.

She didn't have to ask again because he cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes.

" Just had a long day. I spoke to both Tom and Dianite today, I'm sure you can imagine how exhausting that was" he said

Champwan began putting out candles all over the house as he spoke. With every light that was extinguished, the less she could see his burdened shadow. He wasn't one to let things get to him very often, but today he looked drained, almost shorter.

"Yeah I bet it was. How was Tom by the way?" She asked, changing the subject like the coward she was

"He's doing good, hasn't gotten in too much trouble. He asked about you as well" he said as he putout the last candle in the living room.

"Glad to hear Dianite hasn't killed him yet. Speaking of which, did Dianite mention anything about Nvidia?"

He just shook his head and guided her through the dark as he put out more candles from the hallways.

Jordan wasn't very good at seeing in the dark, but the past few days had made it easier to tell where things were. Still, she needed a little help so she gladly took Champwan's arm and let him guide her through.

"Look, this is none of my business and you don't have to say anything if you dont want to, but I'm really worried about you. Please, just let me know if there is anything I can do to help" Jordan said as they reached the room

She couldn't see him very well, just a rough outline of him in front of her. He was looking down at the floor avoiding eye contact, but he looked defeated in a sense.

Jordan reached up and hugged him, after a few seconds he let his face fall on her shoulder and began to cry. As he embraced her back she tried to comfort him, telling him all would be ok, but his crying wouldn't stop and her words brushed right past him.

They both slowly descended to the floor and sat in an embrace, Jordan didn't say anything, all that could be heard was the sound of his muffled cries across the room.

After what seemed like hours, they both grew tired and fell asleep on the floor. Even then she didn't let go of him, she could still hear his cries.

What could have happened to make such an emotionally stable person cry?

Most importantly, whom?

When she woke up in the morning Champwan was still wrapped in her embrace. He was still asleep but a frown was still present in his face.

Nightmares.

She knew about them all too well. Even throughout the night she could hear his sudden crying and shock as he woke from a bad dream. She wasn't sure that comforting him at that moment was the right thing so she stood still, pretending to be asleep.

Now that the darkness was gone, she could see the dried up streams of tears on his face and red swelling on his eyes from all that crying.

Jordan was dying to know what had happened but she couldn't think of single thing that could upset him so much. She hated feeling so useless.

Shortly after waking up, Champwan opened his eyes and adjusted to the lighting of the sun. Jordan didn't say anything, just smiled.

He smiled back but never let go of the embrace.

"I can go make some breakfast if your up for eating" she whispered

He didn't respond right away, didn't move, he just stared at her with sad eyes and a broken smile.

"Im sorry you had to see me like that" he said

"Dont ever be afraid to express how you feel around me, you have nothing to apologize for" she answered

"I should've pulled down a blanket or something, were you cold?" He asked

"Not really, your body heat kept me warm. So, how does breakfast sound?"

He let go of the embrace and pulled her up so that they were both sitting next to each other.

"Maybe I should cook, we don't want the house to burn down" he said

Was that a joke?

Regardless it was true, she didn't know how to cook at all... but seeing him joking around meant that he felt better so she laughed along.

"You cant either! How about we cook together?" Jordan asked

"You mean burn the house down together, sounds like fun" Champwan joked

They both got up laughing having to settle back down a few times from laughing so hard. Then he put his make shift jacket on her and kissed her forehead before they headed to the kitchen.

As they cooked and joked Champwan looked out he window multiple times as if he was expecting someone. Jordan followed his line of sight but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"You need to promise me that you'll stay as far away from Nvidia as possible" he finally said

"Aside from Tucker's ego, we are all trying to avoid him. Why are you so concerned all of the sudden?" She said while setting up the table

"i dont want to keep things from you, but its just a little hard to talk about things right now. Im thankful that you haven't pressed me for answers but once I'm ready to talk you'll be the first to know" he said "For now just promise me you wont confront him"

"Of course" Jordan answered

Nothing else was said about Nvidia throughout breakfast, even afterwards when they went mining out for supplies.

Everything seemed calmer just then.

Unfortunately as she began mining a motherland of coal she got a private message on the world communicator.

"Jordan, we must talk in private tonight" said Dianite's voice in her head

Champwan was mining right next to her, Jordan tried remain calm and pretend nothing was going on.

"Im not joining your side Dianite. Besides I don't really feel like dying today" she snapped back in her head, trying her best to hide her fear

"Still healing from last time" she snapped

"Its not about that. There are some urgent matters we need to discuss" he said, his voice more irritated than before

"Fine, but it has to be late at night. Tom is coming back around noon and were all meeting up with him. Can someone else come with me?" She asked

"These are private matters, no one must know. Why did you think I was private messaging you? Because I enjoy having to waist more energy doing it" he said "Just come to the nether when you're free then"

"If its that important then I will be there but I cant stay there forever. Champwan will notice I'm gone and will freak out if he wakes up. I don't want to be gone for too long, he needs my company" she said, automatically regretting saying that last part

It wasn't good to let Dianite know about others weaknesses, or so Tom used to say. "

"Show no weakness around him, he'll use it against you" Tom said during one of their sleepovers.

Luckily Dianite didn't seem to notice.

Aside from not wanting to worry Champwan, she also had to wake up early to prepare for Tom's birthday party they had all been planning for.

"Dianite, there is also some stuff we need to talk about. Maybe tonight will be a good time to?" Jordan said shaking away the fear

"We should get going" said Champwan

She almost didn't answer because she was so lost in the conversation in her head

Jordan had mined all the coal out without even realizing it too and Champwan was standing next to her waiting for an answer.

"I suppose we have to talk about it at some point, very well little lady" Dianite said in her head

"Yeah we have to go out to get ingredients for dinner anyways" Jordan replied to Champwan as she tried to focus on differentiating both conversations at once.

Sneaking out....yeah that had to be the worse decision she was ever gonna make. Sneaking off to the nether was like begging for a death sentence but if there was something important to discuss it may be worth it.

Still, it wouldn't be easy. Champwan and her slept in the same room. Any noise would wake him up in an instant. She may just have to improvise then.

"I'll see you tonight then, though you may have to teleport me to you if I cant sneak out" she said

"Common, lets go back home" Champwan said seconds after.