(Pov: Ael)
"I should give you a nickname." Looking at Amiel, I tried to find distinct features that stood out.
"Hmmm." I placed my finger on my chin, and I tried to think of anything.
"Can you just help me gather these branches?" He said.
"Why are you just a buzzkill. You know you are never going to find yourself a wife like that." I pointed out my finger, and I swayed it side to side. "Tsk tsk tsk."
"Why did I get put with you?" He sighed.
"Aw, do you not like me, and to think I was starting to like you. Even with you being such a stone-cold bastard."
"Dear gods, please help me now."
"It's a joke, come on, just take it."
"Just help me move these branches." He sighed again.
"Fine, fine. Map boy works just fine for now, I guess."
Placing the branches, which were thin—thin enough to cut with a simple knife but strong enough to carry loads, we put them all in one pile.
"Okay, now what?" I asked.
"We start tying pieces up. That way, we can create a floorboard." Getting up from the floor, he looked at me, then he looked around at the plants around him. "We can use the plant fibers as a tool to tie it all together."
"Wow, really are knowledgeable when it comes to things like this, huh?"
"It was something my parents taught me. Now, come on, help me gather material."
The bell struck, marking noon.
"How about we eat? We don't want to over-exhaust ourselves now, do we?"
He looked at me as he was about to walk to gather plant fibers. "Maybe you're right."
"Just sit, I brought us some food, here." I pulled out some canned food since I thought cooking out here would most likely attract too much wildlife. We wanted to be in and out of here as quick as possible.
Handing off the food to him, he grabbed it and sat down across from me.
"Aw, why so far?" I asked.
He just started for a second and ignored my question.
'Come on, don't be like that.'
"Hey, can I ask you something?" He still doesn't acknowledge me, so I proceed to ask anyway.
"Why do you want to get home so badly. I understand wanting to get home and everything, but you seem edgier more than anything. Eirian might have pushed the idea, but you didn't even try to oppose it."
He chomped down on his food, then slurped down what was left in the can. He ate surprisingly quick, catching me off guard. "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" He turned to me, finally acknowledging me. He gave me a chilling look.
"Sometimes." I shrugged. "So, are you going to answer the question?"
As he got up from the rock he was sitting on, he said, "Don't pry where you don't belong." He then turned and walked away. As he walked, he said something, "I'm going to start gathering some plant fiber. You do the same when you're done eating."
'Wow, so mean.'
***
"Tie it like this." Doing some weird type of knot to make sure the branches didn't fall apart, I do the same on the other side, completing the floorboard.
"We do the same for the walls?" I asked.
"What do you think?"
"So yes?"
"Yes."
I walked over to the other branches and lay them out accordingly. Do the same knots and ended up with three small walls, not nearly as large as the floorboard. We wanted to make this wagon light and small enough to carry along the wasteland, but not too big that we would have trouble.
I looked up, and I could see we had about a few hours of sunlight left. "Should we head back?" I asked
"We have another hour. Let's use it."
"If you say so." I sighed.
Just then, he started to get over a log of a tree that fell. He started to use the knife he had to start making his way through, cutting a piece of it out to make a wheel.
"You know that going to take forever if you do it like that."
"Not like we have much of a choice."
Knowing he was going to be stubborn about it, I made my way to him, "Fine, let me help you with the other side."
I pulled out my knife and started cutting through the other side. We had to keep it thick enough so that it would be strong enough under the pressure of the wagon, but thin enough so it wouldn't be heavy.
After thirty minutes, my forearms were getting tired. I was swapped between hands, but even then, the strain was getting to be too much for me. Looking over at Amiel, it seemed like he was facing the same issues. Didn't stop him, though.
He was sweating profusely. Almost making his way through the tree. The issue was that we still needed to do another. This would have to take us another day to finish.
"Sorry to tell you, but it seems like we won't get this done today."
"Yeah." I could see Amiel's jaw clench.
"We still have tomorrow." I hit him in the back to play with him. "Plus, we want this done properly, no?"
He didn't move; he stood silent. "You can go back by yourself."
"And what? You finish this by yourself?" I stared at the back of his head as he was still hunched over the log. "You need some rest; otherwise, you will have a hard time during our journey."
"What I need is to finish this." His gaze did not waver.
"And be out here in the cold? You're going to get sick, which will delay your return home. Do you really want that?"
He stood silent. I could tell he knew I was right. He stopped cutting through the tree and got up. "Fine." He walked past, and he bumped into my shoulder.
"Look, I understand that you want to go home, and I understand that you don't want to tell me why, but we are all in the same boat."
He kept walking, not acknowledging my words.
'I should probably cut back on the teasing for a while.'