Ember and Sylas had somehow fallen into a casual conversation — about herbs, forest spirits, and, at one point, bread recipes.
Nobody really knew when the topic switched or why it was happening.
Nyxar and Vespera just… stared.
Two emotionless faces.
Two pairs of crimson eyes.
One shared expression of "what the hell are we witnessing."
The narrator sighed.
"Of course. The first sign of emotion either of these two have shown is… confusion. At Ember's brain short-circuiting."
Finally, Nyxar looked away from the philosopher's meeting of "Herbs and Idiocy" and turned to Belos, who was now happily sitting on the deer's back, playing with the mini bears.
"Did you actually try to kill him?" Nyxar asked flatly.
Vespera tilted her head slightly. "No."
Nyxar nodded. "Well. Good enough for me."
Ember spun around. "Wait, what? That's it?!"
Sylas blinked. "You're… just okay with that?"
Even Vespera looked slightly thrown off. "That's… it?"
Nyxar shrugged. "How did I meet the kid the first time?"
Ember frowned, thinking — then her eyes went wide. A quick flashback played in her mind: Nyxar standing in the dark, blade drawn, inches from slicing a terrified Belos in half.
"Ohhhhh," Ember said, realization dawning. "Fair."
The narrator groaned.
"Really? That's it? No fight? No 'grr you hurt my friend'? Bro I had popcorn ready. Like, right here in my hand. Guess I'll just… eat it myself. Rude."
Nyxar poked at the ground with a stick. "You got fast regeneration," he said, pointing at Vespera's almost fully restored arm.
"Yeah."
They both fell into silence. Not tense — just that kind of eerie, robotic quiet where you know neither is great at talking but somehow it works.
The narrator sighed again.
"These two can't communicate properly, but somehow it's the most efficient form of conversation I've ever seen. Huh. Weird."
Eventually, they both left the cave — leaving Ember and Sylas mid-conversation about, apparently, "the moral structure of mushrooms."
Outside, Nyxar built a fire. He pulled out some meat, cooked it, and in under two minutes had a perfect steak.
He handed it to Vespera without saying a word.
She took it. Bit it. Paused.
"This is… really good," she said flatly.
"Thanks."
"Better than Sylas's."
"Don't know his cooking. But okay."
Neither of them changed expression. Neither blinked.
Somewhere in the universe, a comedian cried at the wasted timing.
Then Belos popped out of the cave, holding both mini bears. "Hey! Spider lady! Are you one of Nyxar's summons? Can you go small?"
Vespera blinked. "What?"
Nyxar held up a mini bear, enlarged it to its towering form, then shrunk it again.
"That," he explained.
Vespera stared. "…Cool. But no."
She glanced at her arm — now fully healed, silk threads retreating beneath her skin.
"Oh good. It's back," she muttered.
The narrator sighed contentedly.
"From death threats to dinner and casual regeneration. Friendship, I guess? Or whatever this disaster of a group is calling it."