Aether froze when he noticed Chad walking toward him. The moment their eyes met, his expression twisted into something awkward and painfully self-aware, as if every embarrassing thought decided to surface at once. He cleared his throat and asked, trying and failing to sound casual,
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to be with Kaelith, right?"
Chad slowed her steps and smiled, a warm and relaxed curve that made her presence feel heavier than it should have. "Well," she said lightly, folding her hands behind her back, "Maelona and the others wanted to have a serious talk with him. It looked like one of those political conversations, so I left them to it."
Aether hummed in response, his gaze drifting away from her face. Words hovered at the tip of his tongue, but none of them felt safe enough to release.
Honestly, he needed solitude more than conversation, if only to let the lingering embarrassment settle instead of clawing at him.
