When he considered how strange it all was, Asher arrived at several conclusions. For starters, the darkness and seclusion of his apartment allowed him to be consumed in his thoughts, to be carried away by his obsessions to hide and conceal, learn but hold back. Also, this shame he had for the training day– to be clear, not becoming overwhelmed because of another’s ability (he had no control over that) but for showing his ability more than he wished– seemed a little absurd for the company he kept, for the whole point of this town. And lastly,something had to change. He couldn’t keep mulling over these thoughts like he had in the prior months. Last time it lost him his job and his relationship, and while it felt like he had nothing left to lose, he didn’t want to push it and find out what he was taking for granted.
But no changes had struck him like a revelation, only thoughts that repeated in his head over and over again. Perhaps his want to change something led him Caden’s door, a subconscious acceptance of the help offered disguised in overthinking and over-analyzing that made him knock on the post. Yet, as the door opened there was only one clear concern on his mind.
“What did you mean when you said ‘if you need anything’? You said you wanted to help… what exactly was your point of reference? Where are you getting this?” He probably looked as crazed as he sounded, no help from the god-awful hour in morning he was doing this, and his anxiousness was obvious if not because of the person he was speaking to but for the rapid leg shaking that made his whole form unsteady.
caden hadn’t expected asher to take him up on his offer. he’d hoped, but the read that he’d had on the shadowy resident seemed like someone who would rather take care of themselves than open up and show vulnerability. either caden wasn’t as good at reading people as he thought he was, or something had pushed asher to desperate measures.
he’d opened the door in confusion, taking more than a moment to process what the hell the other was saying, and after another second, he stepped aside, opening the door wider to let asher in. he held onto the knob, trying to steady himself before tensing and forcing himself to pay answer. “at the group training... and maybe a bit before,” caden simply replied, moving back so he wouldn’t be too affected by the waves of anxiety. he bit his lip, trying to put his words in the right order.
“just. every now and then it’s like your fear spikes, and it’s not like the general unease that most of the others have of this town.” caden paused. he didn’t quite have the control at the moment to put his own exhaustion of the day onto asher. but he could still try. “i just wondered if there was something... more. that was worrying you.”