***Cadiz***
"Cadiz, are you tired of me?"
The words made me pause mid-reach for another crystal. I turned back to face Raizel quickly, certain I'd misheard him.
"What?" I said, staring at him in confusion.
Raizel's face was flushed, a hint of red coloring his cheeks in a way I rarely saw. He looked embarrassed but also genuinely uncertain, which was so unlike him that it made my chest ache.
"I meant," he started, then stopped, seeming to struggle with how to phrase it. "We haven't been together in days, and last night when I tried to hold you while you slept, you said you wanted to keep reading instead. Even now that I'm here with you, you just left me standing there to go back to your practice."
His voice got quieter, more vulnerable. "Do you not care about me anymore?"
