The helicopter settled onto the rooftop of Sin Rouge with a soft metallic rumble, but neither of them moved immediately.
Inside the cabin, the lights were dim.
The world outside was muted.
And the air between them…
Thick.
Electric.
Unspoken.
Verosika exhaled slowly not nervous, not unsure, but aware.
Too aware.
She turned her head, and Malerion was already looking at her.
Not staring.
analyzing.
Just fully present as if she were the only fixed point in the room.
"…You've been quiet," she murmured.
"So have you."
She let out a low laugh.
"Yeah. That's usually a warning sign."
He tilted his head slightly.
"For you?"
"For anyone who knows better."
Their hands were still close not touching, but close enough that the distance felt deliberate.
A tension neither broke.
Finally, Verosika leaned back just an inch, eyes narrow with something sharp and vulnerable.
"Tell me something," she whispered.
"No games. deflecting politics."
He didn't hesitate.
"Ask."
She swallowed not from fear, but from weight.
"Why me?"
Silence stretched. Not empty full.
Malerion didn't look away.
"Because you don't hide who you are," he said quietly.
"Not behind power, expectation."
Her breath stalled.
"And," he added, softer,
"because when you look at me… you don't see a weapon. Or a threat.
Something warm flickered across her expression unguarded for just a second.
"…And what do you think I see?"
He leaned closer.
"The version of me I haven't become yet."
That did it.
Her façade cracked not broken, just lowered.
Slowly, Verosika raised a hand, fingers brushing his jaw, testing permission.
He didn't move away.
Didn't dominate the space.
simply let her choose.
And she did.
She closed the distance slow, controlled, intentional lips hovering just a breath away from his.
Not rushing.
guessing.
Matching his stillness.
"I should tell you this is a bad idea," she whispered.
"You could," he replied, voice barely audible.
"But you won't."
Her lips twitched.
"No. I won't."
The kiss was inevitable.
Gravity.
Two lines finally intersecting.
She leaned in inches, centimeters, breath shared, heat rising
Their lips grazed
Not fully touching.
Just enough to spark.
Enough to feel.
Enough to cross a line that couldn't be uncrossed
And then the rooftop door slammed open.
"BOSS!"
Skit's voice hit the air like a thrown brick.
Verosika froze.
Malerion didn't move only his eyes flicked toward the interruption.
Skit stood there, wide-eyed, realizing exactly what he had just stepped into.
"Oh. Uh. Crap. I should I come back later?"
No one answered.
Skit cleared his throat, panic rising.
"Right. Important. Urgent. Not dying level urgent maybe but Rafe said, and I quote, 'If you don't get Malerion up here in the next ten seconds I'll throw you off the building myself.'"
Verosika leaned back, breath unsteady but controlled again walls returning, though slower than before.
Malerion straightened calm, composed, though something in his eyes had shifted.
Not cold.
Interrupted.
He stood.
Verosika stood too.
But before she could step away, his hand briefly intentionally brushed her lower back.
Small.
Quiet.
A promise.
Not forgotten.
Skit swallowed.
"So… should I pretend I didn't see anything, or"
Verosika cut him a sharp look.
"If you ever mention this, I'll put glitter in your bloodstream."
Skit nodded rapidly.
"Noted. Terrified. Already repressing memory."
Malerion didn't look at him his voice calm, controlled:
"What happened?"
Skit exhaled.
"It's the Watcher."
Everything changed.
Verosika's teasing vanished.
Malerion's presence sharpened.
Skit continued:
"He made a move."
The night had shifted.
And whatever almost happened between them
was no longer paused.
It was loaded.
And coming back.
Soon.