The silence between them stretched as if it wanted to become a wall.
The air was heavy with what Hermes had just witnessed, and the ice cream they had bought earlier was dripping between their fingers without either of them noticing.
Raphael was staring at nothing in particular, his eyes distant, as if he wanted to be somewhere Hermes could not follow. Hermes shifted slightly, his own hand wet with sweetness…
And only then did he notice the quiet drip of ice cream against his skin.
The world around them was moving again, not in its usual rhythm, but in a slow drag, as though time itself had thickened and refused to flow. Every bird in the distance, every flicker of light in the city, every passing breeze seemed suspended in syrup.
It was the first sign that the Rewind was losing its hold.
Hermes cleared his throat, the sound startling in the stillness.
