A few minutes passed in silence.
I sat there, absentmindedly poking at the campfire with a twig, letting my mind drift through thoughts of today's class… aura… monsters… everything that had happened.
Then I felt it—
A quiet, lingering stare.
I turned my head.
Elena was watching me.
"…"
"…?"
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
Our eyes met, and a strangely heavy silence settled between us—nothing awkward, but nothing simple either.
Her eyes…
A clear, shimmering blue, almost too bright in the dim light of the cave.
Her hair, pale and soft, glowed faintly in the firelight… and before I even realized it, a sweet scent wrapped around me—warm, close, distracting in a way I couldn't explain.
Thump.
My heart reacted before my thoughts caught up.
I quickly looked away, tugged the blanket closer, and wrapped it around the two of us—an automatic, instinctive gesture to block out the cold.
