Chapter 2 - The Patron of Lost Futures

The man, Leo, finds her. He's haunted, grateful, but also eerily drawn to her. He explains he's a novelist with crushing writer's block. Since the accident, the block is gone, replaced by a torrent of strange, vivid ideas that feel like memories. He describes the scent of the ocean from "his" boat, the design of "his" wedding ring—details from the flood Elara absorbed. She realizes she's not just holding his potential futures; she's leaking them back to him. Her new Glimmer—a shifting, prismatic light—pulses in time with his presence.