Hajin stopped beside a garden bench while Uriel gave a stretch of ivy on the wall her full, furious attention.
Music spilled from the ballroom doors behind them while Juna leaned against the palace wall, ears tracking every single footstep. His shoulder welcomed the pause, though his little sister clearly treated silence as another contest she fully intended to win.
"You can look this way, you know," he drawled, keeping his good hand tucked inside his coat, "the wall didn't drag you out here."
Uriel turned just far enough to glance at him, then decided the ivy deserved closer inspection from a worse angle.
"I'll look wherever I want..."
"You didn't buy the garden with that badge," she sniffed, hugging both arms across her dress.
"Sure, the ivy's great company, it hasn't called me trash even once tonight."
Her cheeks puffed out, and the ivy kept receiving the full force of her glare anyway.
