Ace snorted.<br/><br/>"Not ever, true." he answered, focusing his attention once more on the newest wound. The blood was still flowing, although more weakly. Yeah, he definitely would survive. Which didn't stop the anger and annoyance at himself. That, that right there, was why he focused on himself and not on others. Sure, it had been the right thing, of that he had no doubt. If Ace had taken the time to attack the Owlstrice in a more effective manner, their bigger companion would definitely not be walking anymore. And yet, when did he ever did the right thing and it hadn't come back to bite him in the face?<br/><br/>Never, that was when. He should have learned that by now. But apparently, it didn't. And the look Caine was giving him didn't help at all his sour mood. In a way, though, it was good. Another reminder of why he fought alone, of why he cared only about himself. He survived best alone, when he didn't let stupid feelings get in his way.<br/><br/>When Crusty, of all people, offered him help, Ace gave the man a suspicious look. The other had no reason to help him - even in their short time together, the 'soldier' had made it very clear that he despised him. Not only that, no offer of help was done for selfless reasons, another lesson he had learned soon enough. Ace retreated his leg, debating for a while whether he should just pretend he had heard nothing, if he should get up and walk away or if he would dignify the man with a proper refusal. But then, his leg was still bleeding, his own first aid stuff was with Girl, and any attempt to walk all the way back before tending to his wound would probably result in him being weak for days due to blood loss.<br/><br/>And Crusty had taken a tree on his back for him, right? It would be easier to let him get crushed under it if the goal was to kill him. So he was safe, logically speaking.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, his brain refused to acknowledge any logic at the moment, and kept screaming danger.<br/><br/>After a while, Ace finally forced himself to extend his leg again, making a monumental effort not to shake - not from pain, but from fear. A deeply rooted instinct telling him this wouldn't end well.<br/><br/>"Suit yourself." he said, voice light despise his inner turmoil. Just this once, Ace would tell his instincts to just shut up and let the other deal with the wound. And then, he would get up, shove the lesson deep inside his brain and never, ever again, allow himself to forget the very basics that allowed him to live for that long.<br/><br/>And no matter how much this whole thing would hurt, he would definitely not scream.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The moon was high in the sky, although barely visible, because of course it would be a new moon. The flames of the fire they - well, Caine or Crusty, because Ace had refused to help on this particular task - had built were illumination enough, though, and provided a welcomed warmth for him, at least.<br/><br/>His leg throbbed with pain, and Ace had to press his lips for a while, stifling a groan. After Crusty had tended to his wound, he had refused any further help, walking and riding by himself while hiding away the pain. The result was that, now, his leg felt terrible. It would heal, though, and while sharp, he had already dealt with many worse pains in his life. He'd live.<br/><br/>But he wasn't moving anytime soon, if he didn't absolutely have to.<br/><br/>There was another matter that had been nagging him during the day. Somehow, during the day, calling Crusty, well, Crusty, had felt somewhat wrong. Ace wasn't sure if his mind was simply incapable of believing someone would risk themselves for him, but that probably seemed to be it. And no matter how much he had told himself, over and over again during the entire day, that the other man had only done it because he had thought it would be safe enough, his stupid mind was still having trouble processing the whole thing. Which was how he ended up sitting close to the other man and wondering if he should just ask.<br/><br/>"So, I don't think I caught your name." Ace said, refusing to let his eyes turn away from the fire. As soon as the words left his mouth, though, he felt like a complete idiot. He should really take his own advice and isolate himself for as long as they were in the forest, because the Deep was definitely doing something to his head.