Velithra didn't mean to call him.
She stared at her phone for a long moment, thumb hovering over Kai's name while the night pressed in around her. The balcony door was open now, curtains shifting gently in the breeze. Somewhere below, people laughed, music played, life moved on.
She felt oddly still.
Before she could overthink it, she pressed the call button.
It rang once.Twice.
Then—
"Hey," Kai said.
Just that.One word.
And somehow, it grounded her completely.
"Hey," Velithra replied, her voice quieter than she expected.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The silence wasn't awkward—it felt careful, like they were both aware this was different from texting. More exposed.
"You okay?" Kai asked gently.
Velithra nodded, then realized he couldn't see her. "Yeah. I just… wanted to hear your voice."
There it was.Honest. Unfiltered.
Kai exhaled softly on the other end. "I'm glad you called."
She shifted, pulling her knees up to her chest. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing important," he said. "Just sitting in my room. Thinking."
"About?"
There was a pause—not long, but deliberate.
"You."
Her breath caught. Not sharply—just enough to remind her she was human.
"I keep thinking I'll run out of things to say," Velithra admitted. "But I don't."
Kai smiled into the phone—she could hear it. "You don't have to fill the space, you know."
"I know. I just… like knowing you're there."
"So do I."
The words settled between them, warm and steady.
Outside, the wind picked up slightly. Velithra leaned her head against the doorframe, eyes drifting shut.
"Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"When I come back…" She hesitated. "Will we still be like this?"
He answered immediately. "Yes."
No doubt.No hesitation.
She smiled softly. "Okay."
They stayed on the call longer than either of them planned—talking about small things, nothing things. What she saw that day. What annoyed him at school. Things that didn't matter, except that they were sharing them.
Eventually, Velithra yawned, surprised by how late it had gotten.
"You should sleep," Kai said.
"So should you."
"I will," he promised. "After this."
She smiled. "Goodnight, Kai."
"Goodnight, Velithra."
The call ended, but the warmth lingered—quiet, reassuring, real.
She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling again.
The distance between them was still there.
But it didn't feel like a gap anymore.
It felt like a line—stretching, steady, unbroken.