Elian didn't sleep that night.
The room assigned to him within the K-7 complex was functional, clean, and too
white. The lights remained at a constant low setting, simulating a rest that never
came. From the bed, Elián stared at the ceiling without really seeing it, his
mindtrapped in a single image.
Golden eyes.
No, not only
that.
The way they had looked at him.Not as you would observe a threat.
Not as you would evaluate an
object.
As if Kael had seen something that Elián had been hiding for years, even
from himself.
He turned onto his side, frustrated, and exhaled slowly. His heart was still racing,
likeif I were still facing the containment field.
"Ridiculous..." he muttered.
She had studied species capable of mimicking emotions, predators with advanced
psychological strategies. She knew that the Kha'Reth had senses far more
developed than humans. That they could detect chemical, hormonal, and
respiratory changes.
And yet…
That had been different.
He hadn't felt analyzed.He
had felt recognized.
Elián closed his eyes tightly, but the memory didn't fade. Kael's deep voiceIt returned
to her mind, creeping in slowly, laden with a dangerous calm.
Your heart races.
Elián put a hand to his chest, as if he could check it.He kept
running.
The following morning, he was summoned to the advanced observation room.
"You'll have limited access," Commander Hale explained as they walked through
the corridors. "Controlled interactions. No improvisations like yesterday."
"I didn't improvise yesterday," Elián replied. "I
observed." Hale stopped abruptly and looked at
him coldly.
—Here, doctor, observing can be a
provocation.Elián held his gaze without lowering
his head.—So perhaps the problem isn't what we observe… but what we don't want
see.
The commander did not respond. She resumed marching.
The room was different from the previous one. Smaller. More enclosed. The
containment area.
It formed a semicircle, bringing Kael closer… dangerously close.
Elián felt the change in the air even before he saw it.
Kael was seated this time, his relaxed posture a stark contrast to the energy
restrictions surrounding him. His horns grazed the blue light of thefield. His chest
rose and fell with slow, controlled breathing.
But her eyes…
Her eyes lifted at the exact moment Elián entered.As if I had
felt it.
Kael didn't smile. He didn't bare his fangs. He only tilted his head slightly, a gesture
that alreadyIt was starting to seem familiar to Elián.
—You're back —said
Kael.It wasn't a
question.
"It's my job," Elián replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
"No," Kael replied. "Your job is to observe from afar. Coming back... was a choice."
Elián felt a slight warmth rise up his neck.
The commander activated the control panels and maintained a distance,
observing.every movement.
—Proceed —he ordered—. Ten minutes.
Elián approached as close as allowed. He was close enough to see the fine silver
lines that crisscrossed Kael's skin, like ancient maps. He noticedScars. Some deep.
Others barely visible, but repeated.
"Do they hurt?" he asked without
thinking. Kael raised an eyebrow.—The scars?
-Yeah.
Kael looked down at his own body.
—Some don't anymore —he replied—. Others… remember.
Elian swallowed hard.
"They shouldn't be there," he said
quietly.Kael let out a deep, humorless
laugh.
—Humans are experts at deciding what shouldn't exist.
Silence enveloped them again, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was tense. Heavy.
Kael leaned forward slightly. The field vibrated, reacting immediately.Elián felt the
irrational urge to extend his hand.
He didn't.
"You smell different today," Kael said
suddenly.Elian blinked.
—Different from what?
—To yesterday —he replied—. Less confusion. More… intention.
Elián felt a chill run down his spine.
"I didn't know the Kha'Reth used their sense of smell in that way," he
remarked, trying to return to the scientific realm.
"We don't use it," Kael corrected. "We are
it." Elián observed him with renewed
attention.
—What does that mean?
Kael stared at him, as if assessing how much he could say without consequences.
"I don't separate what I think from what I feel," she finally said. "Your species does.
Because..."They lie even when they think they are telling the truth.Elián felt the phrase pierce him in some sensitive place.
"And what do I smell now?" she asked, not knowing
why. Kael didn't answer immediately.
He moved a little closer to the field, until his face was dangerously near. Elián
could see the golden gleam in his eyes with a clarity that took his breath away.
—Curiosity—said Kael—. And something else.
-What thing?
Kael tilted his head and inhaled slowly.
—I desire content.
Elián felt like he couldn't breathe.
"That's not possible," he said quickly. "We barely know each other."
"The body doesn't need long stories to recognize what awakens it," Kael replied
with brutal calm. "Yours reacted before your mind."
Elián took a step back, as if the truth had physical weight.
"You're provoking me," Commander Hale interjected. "Kael, be quiet."
Kael didn't take his eyes off Elián.
"Tell him it's not true," she murmured. "Tell him your breathing didn't change when
I approached."
Elian couldn't do
it.Because it was
true.
The silence became unbearable.
"Session adjourned," Hale ordered abruptly.
The containment field intensified, pushing Kael back. For a second,Something
crossed his expression: no anger, no violence.
Frustration.As they left, Elián felt a strange pressure in his chest. It wasn't fear. It was
anticipation… and guilt.
"This cannot continue," Hale said sternly. "He's crossing a dangerous line."
"He is aware," Elián replied. "Emotionally aware."
"He's a beast," she retorted. "Don't confuse instinctive responses with feelings."
Elián stopped.
—What if what you call instinct… is just a different way of feeling?
The commander did not respond.
That night, Kael stayed awake, sitting in the dim light of his cell.The scent
of Elián was still in the air.
He wasn't just human. He was warm. Content. Full of unspoken questions.Kael
closed his eyes.
For years she had learned to ignore the desire. To bury it under layers of
Obedience and control. But that…
That wasn't hunger. It
was conscious attraction.
It was danger.
For the first time since his capture, Kael did not wish to
escape.She longed to see him again.
And Elián, in his white room, with his heart racing and his body overly aware of
itself, understood a truth that was not in any report:
The enemy didn't always come with weapons.
Sometimes…
He arrived with a look that said he saw you as too good.