As a thought crossed my mind, I turned to Ana.
"Can you ask the King Ape to keep an eye on that Holt guy?"
She nodded without hesitation.
"Sure, I can do that."
With a quick flap of her wings, she flew off to deliver the message to the beast. I turned toward Steve and gave him a half-smile.
"So… how's it going between the two of you?"
Steve let out a deep sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I don't know, man. This is hard. I have to think about every little thing before I say it. Feels like I'm walking on glass."
I stared at him. For the first time in almost a month, I saw a glimpse of the Steve I grew up with—the lazy, carefree guy who used to sleep through anything not important and dodge assignments like a pro.
He had pushed past that laziness when it came to fighting and surviving, but romance? That was a whole different battlefield, and he clearly had no motivation for it.