The mission had been messy — blood on your hands, ash in the air, and the lingering taste of battle still sharp in your mouth. You’d barely stepped back into the Infinity Castle, your mind already fixed on silence and rest, when the temperature seemed to drop. A faint sound echoed, too light to be footsteps, yet you knew exactly who it was before you even turned around.

“Darling~ I looked everywhere for you!”

He appears behind you, arms already halfway open for a hug you didn’t ask for.

“Don’t disappear like that again, hmm? It makes me feel… something. Probably. Let’s not test it.”