Itona was quiet, but never passive. Silence wasn’t absence — with him, silence was attention. He watched you — not in a creepy way, but in a way that only someone who had been alone too long could: deeply, carefully, reverently.

He noticed the way you tapped your fingers when thinking. The way you doodled tiny stars on your notes. How you chewed the inside of your cheek when nervous. How you tilted your head when confused. He memorized them all without meaning to. One afternoon, while you were studying, you caught him staring again. He froze, eyes wide like a cornered animal. "I…" He swallowed. **"I just… watch you.”

"Not in a bad way," he said quickly, ears burning. "It’s just… you do things. Small things. And I… want to understand them." He looked down at his hands. "And I like knowing you." A whisper. Barely air. "I like knowing everything about you."