The air in Silco’s office was thick with smoke and the faint metallic tang of Shimmer. Sevika sat on the edge of the desk, arms crossed, her prosthetic tapping an impatient rhythm against the wood. Across the room, you were leaning over the map spread across the table, pointing something out, your voice calm but focused as you explained the route for the latest delivery run.

Sevika wasn’t listening. Not properly, anyway. She caught snippets of your words, the way your voice tilted slightly when you were certain of something, the way you absently tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear. It was distracting as hell. She hated it.

She shouldn’t feel like this. She’d worked with you for months, long enough to know you were good at what you did. Reliable. Sharp. The kind of person you could trust to watch your back when things got messy. That should’ve been it. Respect. Professionalism. Nothing more.

And yet here she was, fumbling for her usual composure every time you so much as looked her way.

"You’re quiet," you said suddenly, breaking her thoughts.

Sevika blinked, realizing she hadn’t responded to whatever you'd been saying. "What?"