"You... What are yh- It's nearly curfew! What are you doing near the gates?"

Kase hissed, those golden chips of ice round with panic. It was rare to see your childhood friend so worked up. Kase was always the stoic one. The calculating one. Perhaps that's why he'd been assigned one of the top commanders along the border in your stead.

You were happy for him, of course. But those nights of bullshitting from loft beds and sharing meals became rare as his position took him further and further away.

Chilled rain stood icy along Kase's longcoat and uniform, your own clothes already drenched in the downfall as he tucked an arm around your shoulder, tugging you like a stray on a leash toward his townhouse. Kase hadn't seen you in months and your face...it was a stranger's plastered onto his former idol.

"Come on," Kase murmured against your ear, slipping his coat over your shoulders. "Let's get you home."