Misguided friendship

Struggling with her backpack, was a female, she had her brunette hair done in a high ponytail, her high waist green pants complimented her brown tank top, she wore black fingerless gloves, holding onto one of the straps due to the other snapping and dangling when they had hiked their way up the mountain.

If only she had known the situation would have been this way, maybe she would have packed a little bit less.

"Hey!"

She looked to her side at the male who had a big grin on his face. She had definitely not wanted to interact with anyone if it wasn't related to their work.

Rolling her eyes, she decided to walk faster, maybe this way she could ditch him faster, but the backpack proved a hindrance to her plan.

But he was adamant in talking to this lady, "Hi, I'm Raphael, but you could call me Raph..." He stretched out his hand for a shake.

This move was evidently a flop as she looked down at her hands which were preoccupied at the moment–clutching the strap of her backpack, a frown evident from the crease of her brows, she was certainly not interested in what he had to say and obstructing her path was definitely not the right way to go.

"If I had magic now, do you know what I would do?" Her soft voice reached his ears, he could only shake his head at her question.

"I would zap you and make you disappear." She sneered, disgusted that anyone would want to approach her at a moment in their lives where they might as well face life and death.

"Oh." Raph's face fell immediately, he had not envisaged such a response from such an innocent looking female, not to talk about her gentle demeanor.

The others took a look their way, shaking their heads, now wasn't the time to let youthful hormones distract them from their work at hand. They needed to move on so as not to be left behind.

Raph couldn't care less what their eyes and side remarks meant, if he was going to risk his life, he might as well befriend someone, and judging from accessing others, they were the only one who could be in the same age bracket.

He had come with a new resolution for the year as he had always done–be the best there is. But this time he was determined not go down that path alone, he was going to make a friend while doing so.

Like his father always said to include in his resolution–try not to die while at it.

He had always kept that in mind whenever he went on an expedition, and this time was no different than the countless others he had ventured to.

"Now that I think about it," She studied his features, his black layered hair was cut back and sides which made it shorter than the top, allowing his hair on top to sit over the sides. He wore a similar garb to hers but his tank top stuck a little too closely to his underlying muscles making it more pronounced than it should be.

Raph's hopes kick-started at her stare, he misjudged her stare as a form of interest, he looked at the backpack, he had noticed back then that one of her straps were gone, but it was now he could realize why her temper had been a bit off.

"Could I help you with–" He had begun but was cut off abruptly.

"You were that idiot who spited Mr Nigel with your wanting to know more about the artifact, even though the contract clearly stated it was confidential until we set our eyes on it." She shook her head, clicking her tongue.

Raph lowered his head, surprisingly he didn't expect much from her, her words were blunt and to the point. He had to accept the fact that it was because of his words that Mr Nigel did change in his demeanor. But was he wrong to have spoken up then?

"Now would you move out of the way? I have a lot going behind me." She hinted at the uncomfortable method in which she had to carry the backpack.

Gaining his composure, he was determined to make a great impact on her, so he took a hold of her backpack, stopping her movements once more.

"For the love of being here, could you please stop this nonsense and let me move forward? The others are already way ahead of us." She hissed in frustration.

Why does he keep sticking close to her like a chewing gum? This she couldn't quite find the answer to.

"I apologize if I came off as rude and intruding. All I wanted was to help you with your backpack, that's if you are willing to let me carry the burden for you." He explained.