Warm light filtered through the curtains, soft, muted, almost golden. The kind of morning glow that belonged to a quiet dorm, not to a marshal's recovery chamber, nor to a battlefield tent drenched in blood. But what Eros Yin felt first wasn't the sunlight.
It was softness. A pillow under his head. A blanket was pulled carefully up to his chest. A faint herbal scent, fresh, clean, calming. And then, the warmth of a presence sitting quietly nearby.
His eyes opened, lashes trembling. The first thing he saw was a small, fluffy mass curled against his shoulder. The divine fox cub, breathing peacefully, its tiny tails rising and falling with each breath.
The second thing he saw was Ahce, leaning on her desk, asleep with her head resting on her folded arms. She was still wearing the white medical coat she'd been given earlier, though it was wrinkled from two days of worry and exhaustion. Her hair slipped across her cheek, brushing the wooden table.
