Darian's home was not a home in the way most people understood the word.
It was a structure of precision.
Clean surfaces. Empty corners. No unnecessary objects. Everything had function, and anything without function did not exist here.
Silence lived here more than he did.
And yet—
as the door closed behind him that day, something unfamiliar entered with him.
Small footsteps.
Uncontrolled breathing.
A voice that didn't understand silence as a rule.
Lina Veyra.
She stood in the middle of the living room, turning slowly as she looked around.
"Wow…"
Her voice echoed slightly.
"It's so big… but also… lonely."
Darian removed his coat, hanging it without looking at her.
"Stay in one place," he said.
Lina immediately froze.
Then nodded very seriously.
"Okay. I am staying in one place."
She took one step.
Then another.
Then wandered toward the sofa anyway.
Darian didn't react.
He was already regretting nothing—but noticing everything.
Lina climbed onto the sofa like it belonged to her, swinging her legs.
"Do you live here all alone?"
"Yes."
"Always?"
"Yes."
"That's weird."
Darian paused slightly.
"…No."
"Yes it is," she said confidently.
He ignored that.
But she didn't stop talking.
"I think places are supposed to have noise. Like people. Or food smells. Or arguing. Or something."
Darian walked past her toward the kitchen.
Empty.
Of course.
She followed him instantly.
"You don't have anything in your fridge."
"I know."
"That's sad too."
"…Stop commenting on things you don't understand."
"I understand sadness," Lina said proudly.
Darian stopped for half a second.
Then continued walking.
That night, he prepared a second room.
Not because he planned to keep her.
But because sending her back out felt… unnecessary.
Lina sat on the floor of the hallway while he worked.
"You're not like other scary people," she said suddenly.
Darian didn't look at her.
"That's because you don't know other people."
She smiled.
"Maybe."
Silence followed.
Not uncomfortable.
Just different.
Before sleeping, Lina asked one more thing.
"Hey."
"What."
"…Are you going to leave me somewhere tomorrow?"
Darian didn't answer immediately.
That was unusual.
Then:
"No."
Lina blinked.
Then smiled softly.
"Okay."
As if that was enough to make everything safe.
And for the first time in a long time—
Darian Korr's house was not empty.
Even if he didn't admit it.