Redhawk Caldera don't stop until your heart goes numb.

I got distracted like 5 times while writing this because Blake is watching Archer, lol.

She only stopped drinking once the words slipped out of his mouth, and he watched her carefully for a reaction. His gaze followed the slow and deliberate motion of her head as she looked up at him. Their eyes met once again, and then she spoke two more words, equally as loaded as his had been.

Elwood wasn't going to answer immediately. They were both calculating each other's moves carefully, as though executing a complicated dance. One misstep and it was all over; in his mind's eye, he could already picture Finley's face growing dark as a storm cloud as she turned on her heel and marched away in a huff. And all he had to do was say the wrong thing.

What kind of answer was she looking for? This whole situation had become so convoluted, so murky, that it was difficult to navigate. He was sorry...for leaving the cavern so abruptly, to begin with. He was sorry for avoiding her for the past few days. He was sorry for acting in a way that had caused her to put up her defenses in the first place. But how to articulate that in a way that Finley would accept? As close as they were, he still felt like it was impossible to understand her.

He took another small step towards her, then stopped. "I'm sorry...for the way I acted the other day," he said, searching her face. That encompassed everything: the closeness that had earned him a punch in the face, the hug, his reaction to her warning. But would she see what he was saying?