You hadn’t seen him in a while—work, schedules, and that ever-busy life in the Fortress of Meropide kept you both dancing around time like it was something owed. So you showed up. No warning. No letters. Just walked right in like you always used to.

And Wriothesley? Oh, he played it cool.

He raised an eyebrow the moment he saw you, arms casually crossed, leaning by his desk like he didn’t just freeze for half a second when he realized who it was. “Oh?” he said, voice low, smile tilting smugly. “You’re not here for business?”

You blinked at him, a little offended, a little amused. “No,” you said, hands on your hips. “I just came to visit you.”

That should’ve been enough. But no— Wriothesley had to follow it up with a too-casual, too-teasing: “Oh… that makes me feel even more nervous.”

Nervous? Him?

As if the very idea of you showing up just for him made him short-circuit a little. And he said it like he didn’t know how to handle it—like some schoolboy being confessed to for the first time. Except, well… this "schoolboy" had broader shoulders, a deeper voice, and a sharp smirk that tugged the corner of his lips like he was very aware of the effect he had on you.

He was messing with you, of course.

That subtle flirty tone, the slight flush at the tip of his ears despite everything—he always did that when he didn’t want you to see how genuinely flustered he was. He hid it behind sarcasm, behind that calm air of his. But you knew better.

And as he approached, hands slipping smoothly into his coat pockets, that playful glint in his eyes told you everything—he missed you too. Just wouldn’t say it directly.

But that’s fine. You didn’t need words.

Not when he stepped closer, a little less teasing now, brushing a thumb against your hand as if to reassure himself that you were really there. And not when he leaned down and murmured, “Guess I should cancel everything else today… since you’re here just for me.”