They didn't arrive together.
Not deliberately apart—just not announced.
Juni reached the lecture hall first, pausing near the back where the lights softened faces and the crowd gathered loosely. The event wasn't large—an interdisciplinary talk with a modest reception afterward—but it drew a mixed audience. Students from different faculties, a few professors, quiet conversation threading through the room.
Elian arrived a few minutes later. Juni noticed him immediately—not because he was looking, but because his attention seemed to align instinctively. Elian caught his eye across the room and nodded once, small and familiar.
They stood near each other without touching.
At first.
As the talk began, Juni shifted his weight, and Elian moved a half-step closer. Their shoulders brushed lightly. The contact wasn't strategic. It was comfort.
Juni felt the awareness ripple outward—not sharp, not hostile. Just recognition. A glance held too long. A pause mid-sentence from someone nearby. Nothing overt. Nothing cruel.
Presence, he realized, didn't need a label to be legible.
When the applause came, Elian leaned slightly toward him. "Want to stay for the reception?"
Juni nodded. "If you do."
They moved together this time, navigating clusters of people, Elian's hand hovering near Juni's back without settling there. Conversation flowed easily—Elian answering questions with measured confidence, Juni contributing when asked, listening otherwise.
Someone addressed Elian by name. Another by surname.
"Good to see a Sorell here," a professor said pleasantly. "Are you—"
"—with me," Elian finished lightly, gesturing toward Juni. Not possessive. Not explanatory. Just inclusion.
The professor smiled at Juni. "Welcome."
It wasn't a declaration.
But it wasn't nothing.
Later, outside, the night cool and quiet, Juni exhaled slowly. "That wasn't… terrible."
Elian smiled. "High praise."
Juni laughed softly, then grew thoughtful. "I think just being there mattered."
Elian nodded. "It always does."
As they parted for the evening, Juni walked away with a strange, steady calm. Being seen together hadn't demanded courage the way he'd feared.
It had simply asked them to stand.
And they had.