Location:Obsidian Academy
Date/Time:Mid Sparkfall, 9939 AZI
Realm:Lower Realm
The bench was warm where Ryo's elbow pressed against hers.
Not intentionally — the mess hall's Elite section had seating for two hundred but a population that rarely filled half of it, which meant the four of them choosing to crowd one end of a long table was a statement, not a necessity. Jayde sat with her back to the wall. Ryo on her left, close enough that their arms brushed when he reached for the teapot. Kiran, across from her, hunched over a text on Verdant soil composition with the focus of someone using a book as a barricade. Eden beside him, eating with the steady precision she brought to everything — small bites, no wasted motion, eyes tracking the room between each one.
