In the early morning, Theresa's dorm room door was knocked on precisely. She opened the door, and outside wasn't the meal delivery robot, but Kael, wearing an apron and carrying a tray.
On the tray were eggs fried into perfect sunny-side-up shapes (slightly burnt at the edges), a few slices of golden-brown toast, and a cup of... steaming milk.
"Good morning," Kael greeted with a smile, naturally walking in and placing the tray on her small table. "Try it and see how good today's 'Captain's Special Breakfast' is. I swear this time I didn't mistake salt for sugar because I was too tired from work."
He was referring to a previous failed attempt that almost blew up the kitchen.
Theresa looked at the cup of milk and blinked: "Kael... you know I don't drink milk..."
After all, she only liked bitter melon juice.
Kael pushed the milk closer to her, his tone gently but undeniably firm: "You need balanced nutrition. Drinking those things all the time isn't good for your stomach." He paused, then added, "Besides, drinking more milk helps you grow taller."
That last sentence was clearly a joke, but it hit a nerve with Theresa.
She puffed out her cheeks: "I'm already very tall!"
But she still obediently sat down, picked up the milk cup, and took a small sip.
Especially looking at Kael's eyes, she felt this cup of milk was the most delicious drink in the world.
"How is it?"
"Hmm... it's alright," Theresa said reluctantly, but then took another big gulp from the cup.
To grow taller... Kael smiled contentedly, sat opposite her, picked up a slice of bread and ate it, naturally chatting with her about today's schedule, as if having breakfast together was the most normal thing.
Sunlight streamed through the window, enveloping them in a warm glow.
In the morning, Kael needed to go to the archives to look up some old files. This was originally a tedious task, but Theresa insisted on going along to "help."
As a result, "helping" turned into Kael navigating through endless rows of archive shelves, while Theresa sat on a rolling ladder cart, slowly pushed by Kael, cradling a pile of documents he had picked out, humming a song.
"Left, left! Kael! That thick blue volume looks very interesting!" Theresa directed.
Kael took down the heavy "Early Schicksal Honkai Energy Reactor Design Catalog" as instructed, weighing it in his hand: "Are you sure this is 'very interesting' and not 'very heavy'?"
"Hehe, maybe there's a treasure map hidden inside!" Theresa giggled, taking the volume and hugging it, like a little squirrel hoarding food for winter.
Kael shook his head helplessly, continuing to slowly push her and the cart of "treasures" forward.
In the quiet archives, there was only the slight rolling sound of the cart and Theresa's occasional gasp when she found an interesting title.
Kael didn't find it annoying; on the contrary, he felt that having such a little sun by his side made even sifting through old papers interesting.
Midway, Kael needed to go to a deeper section to find something, telling Theresa to wait for him there.
When he returned, he found Theresa leaning against the ladder cart's railing, her head nodding, having fallen asleep with a thick archive file in her arms, a sweet smile on her lips, probably dreaming of something good.
Kael lightened his steps, walked over, and carefully pulled out the file that was about to slip from her arms.
His movements were very gentle, but Theresa still woke up groggily.
"Hmm... Kael?" She rubbed her eyes, her voice soft and sweet from just waking up. "You're back..."
"Yes, I'm back."
Kael looked at her sleepy eyes, his heart melting completely, and he naturally reached out to gently smooth her slightly messy white hair. "If you're sleepy, go back and sleep. Sleeping here, you'll easily catch a cold."
Theresa shook her head and naturally grabbed his hand, which he hadn't yet withdrawn, rubbing it against her face like a spoiled kitten: "No, I'll stay here with you. You keep looking, I promise I won't sleep anymore." She said this, but her eyes were still half-closed.
Kael felt the warm, delicate touch of her cheek on the back of his hand, his heart skipped a beat, but he didn't pull his hand away, letting her hold it. With his other hand, he gently patted her head: "Okay, then I won't go far."
In the afternoon, a new virtual reality experience hall opened in the headquarters' entertainment area.
Upon hearing about it, Theresa immediately dragged Kael with eager eyes to try it out.
They chose a two-player co-op space adventure theme.
Wearing the VR equipment, the two seemed to be truly in the vast universe.
Theresa shouted excitedly, operating the virtual spaceship wildly, almost crashing into an asteroid belt.
"Theresa! Asteroids on the left! Be careful!" Kael's voice came through the headset, with a hint of tension and amusement.
"Waaah! Watch me! Judah... oh no, watch my super evasion!" Theresa fumbled with the controls, and the spaceship grazed past the asteroid at an extremely dangerous angle.
"Nice job!" Kael praised at the right moment.
"Hehe, of course!" Theresa was smug.
When passing through a narrow wormhole that required extreme synchronicity, their operations had to be highly coordinated. Kael calmly gave instructions: "Listen to my command, three, two, one... now! Full thrusters!"
Theresa obeyed without hesitation. The virtual spaceship precisely passed through the wormhole, and a breathtakingly beautiful, brilliant nebula suddenly appeared before their eyes.
"Wow..." Both exclaimed simultaneously.
Against the backdrop of the magnificent scenery in the VR world, Kael's voice came through the headset, sounding especially clear and gentle: "Good teamwork, Theresa."
It was just a simple compliment, yet it made Theresa's heart race again. She could even imagine Kael's smiling lips at that moment.
"Tha... that's natural! We're the best partners!" Theresa replied, feigning composure, but her cheeks were burning.
Leaving the experience hall, Theresa was still immersed in the excitement and the sweetness of that "best partners" comment, chattering non-stop. Kael listened patiently, occasionally agreeing with a few words, his gaze always filled with doting amusement.
In the evening, the two walked back to Kael's dorm building. The setting sun cast long shadows.
"I had a lot of fun today!" Theresa looked up at Kael, her eyes sparkling. "Thank you, Kael!"
"I had fun too," Kael smiled and nodded.
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Theresa seemed still reluctant to leave, lingering.
She suddenly remembered something and pulled out a small, extremely abstract figure made of pipe cleaners from her pocket—it was barely discernible as having black hair and wearing a blue uniform-like outfit.
"This... is for you!" Theresa shyly slipped the figure into Kael's hand. "I secretly made it in the experience hall's rest area just now... does it look like you?"
Kael looked at the crooked, yet heartfelt little craft in his hand, his heart feeling full, as if something had filled it completely.
He carefully held the figure in his palm, looked up at Theresa's cheeks, which were flushed with shyness, then suddenly took a step forward, opened his arms, and gently, yet incredibly firmly, hugged her.
This was different from the brief hug in the botanical garden. It was longer, warmer, with clear affection and reluctance to part.
Theresa was completely stunned, her mind blank. She could only feel the warmth of his embrace, the strong beat of his heart, and his pleasant, reassuring scent.
"Today... thank you for accompanying me," Kael's voice sounded in her ear, deep and gentle. "Good night, Theresa."
After saying that, he released her, as if nothing had happened, ruffled her hair, and turned to walk into the dorm building.
Theresa stood still, dazed, for a long time before slowly raising her hand to touch her shoulder, which still seemed to retain his warmth, then looked at the doorway where he had disappeared.
Finally, she suddenly crouched down, buried her burning face in her knees, and let out an uncontrollable, happy sob.
Kael hugged her on his own!
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