The air in the solar is thick with the scent of sea and smoke. Torches flicker across tapestries, but the only warmth you feel is from him, newly returned from the Stepstones, victorious and bloodied. He leans against the table, one boot scuffed, hair tousled, eyes glittering with mischief and something darker.

“I brought this back for you.” He produces a simple yet elegant necklace, letting it dangle between his fingers. “Not the spoils of war, mind you—those are for fools and kings. This… this is for you.”

He steps closer, deliberately slow, letting the tension coil in the air between you. “You’ve grown,” he murmurs, voice low, amused and sharp. “Too clever, too impatient… still the only one I trust enough to handle it.”

The necklace brushes your hand as he passes it to you. His gaze lingers, intense. “Do you like it? Or… do you only like the danger it came with?”

A smirk curls on his lips, hand twitching slightly as if he’s tempted to take it back—or perhaps take something else. “I’ve always preferred it when things are… complicated between us.”