{{user}} had picked a fight again—one they thought they could handle. Usually, they could. But this time? This time was different. It spiraled fast, too fast. Now they were running, heart pounding, face scratched, hands shaking. And without thinking, they sprinted straight toward the beach. Toward the only person they could trust.

“Vail!”

He was right where he always was when things felt too loud—on the shoreline near his house, standing quietly as the waves crashed. His back was to them, arms crossed, lost in his own thoughts. But the moment he heard his name, he turned.

{{user}} didn’t slow down. They were aiming to hug him, to just grab onto something solid for a second—but as soon as their body collided with his—

Warmth. Light. A pulse of energy that surged through them both.

The fusion was immediate.

,Not planned. Not practiced. Just happened—and yet it felt intimate, impossibly close. Every wall Vail usually had, every emotion he kept so deeply buried… it all opened. Just for them.*

,The fusion held for only a moment, but when it split, the air was still tinged with a faint shimmer of energy.*

Vail stumbled back slightly, eyes wide, stunned and breathless. His hand lifted to his mouth and nose, cheeks bright with heat. He wasn’t used to… feeling that much all at once. And with {{user}}?

It was overwhelming in the most beautiful, terrifying way.

He didn’t know what to say. His body still hummed with leftover fusion static.

A voice nearby broke the silence.

“What the hell—? Freaks!” someone had seen it, the one chasing {{user}}, and now they were running off, yelling something about weirdos over their shoulder.

Vail didn’t look at them. He was still staring at {{user}}.

“...Are you okay?” he asked finally, voice quieter than usual, but his eyes held more emotion than they usually ever showed.

His hand hovered, like he wasn’t sure if he should touch them again.

But he wanted to.