The air outside was gentle, brushed with the faint chill that came before evening. The town was quieter than usual — most people were still tangled in their own holiday plans, leaving the streets strangely still.
Velithra walked beside Kai, the rhythm of their steps out of sync. He didn't speak at first, didn't look at her, just kept his gaze forward. She found herself watching the way his hair fell across his forehead, the way the sunlight softened his sharp features — almost humanized him. Almost.
"Where are we going?" she asked finally, breaking the silence that had been pressing on her chest.
Kai glanced at her, just enough for his eyes to catch hers. "You'll see."
Velithra frowned slightly. "You're not going to tell me?"
His lips curved — not into a smile, but something close to it. "You don't trust easily, do you?"
"I've learned not to."
Kai nodded once, like he already knew that answer before she said it. "That's… fair."
They walked past shuttered shops, the smell of fried food drifting from somewhere down the block. Velithra's hands stayed buried in her sleeves, her shoulders drawn tight. Every second near him felt strange — safe and dangerous all at once.
After a while, they reached a hill at the edge of town. A small overlook sat at the top, half-forgotten, overlooking the sea. The horizon shimmered where the sun dipped low, streaks of orange bleeding into dark blue water.
Velithra stopped at the top, her breath catching. "You brought me here?"
Kai stepped beside her, leaning on the railing. "Yeah."
"Why?"
He shrugged, eyes on the waves below. "Because it's quiet. No one pretends up here."
That silence came again — not heavy this time, but deep, almost fragile. The kind of silence that made her aware of her own breathing, of the pulse in her throat.
Velithra looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "You say things like you've been waiting for someone to listen."
Kai exhaled softly, a sound that was almost a laugh but too tired to be one. "Maybe I have."
He turned then, finally meeting her gaze fully. The wind lifted his hair slightly, and for a heartbeat, everything around them — the sea, the sky, the faint hum of the world — blurred into nothing.
Velithra looked away first. "You talk like you understand."
"I do," he said quietly. "More than you think."
The words hung there, hovering between them like a secret neither of them was ready to name.