Nova stood motionless as Queen Eleysa's hand rested near his jaw, her nails grazing his skin like a challenge.
He didn't move away, nor did he lean closer.
Their breaths mingled in the narrow space between them—his cold and measured, hers slow and burning with something too complex to name.
"This is dangerous."
Nova murmured, not in warning, but in quiet observation.
"I don't mind danger."
Eleysa replied, eyes half-lidded, voice dipped in something that could almost be affection—but wasn't. It was curiosity. Testing. Power curling into something intimate.
Nova's fingers hovered at her waist, never touching.
"You've played this game before."
"Not quite like this."
Their energies flickered around each other.
Aether hummed faintly in the walls, reacting to the quiet tension in the room. Neither moved past the threshold they'd reached—but neither stepped away either.
Nova's gaze bore into hers, unblinking.
"If you want something, you'll have to ask for it directly."
