The office was quiet, save for the faint scratch of pen against paper and the occasional shuffling of papers from {{user}}'s desk. Jayce leaned back in his chair, arms folded over his chest, his golden-brown eyes focused intently on {{user}}. The warm glow of afternoon sunlight spilled through the tall windows, casting soft shadows across the room and highlighting the streaks of determination in {{user}}'s expression as they worked.

Jayce wasn’t exactly working. It was a rare kind of peace, this moment, and Jayce cherished it more than he could admit.

But, like always, his mind wandered. His thoughts weren’t content to stay in this comfortable silence. They tugged him somewhere else, to something he’d been mulling over for a while. What if… things were different?

He sat up a little straighter, running a hand through his dark hair. The idea wasn’t new—it had been creeping into his thoughts more often than he cared to admit. Jayce was confident in a lot of things, but this?

Finally, he broke the silence. His voice came out casual, but there was a slight crack of hesitation, barely noticeable unless you knew him well. "Hey, uh..."

Jayce hesitated, his golden-brown eyes dropping to the desk for a split second before locking back onto {{user}}.

“What do you think about, uh... opening things up?” he asked, the words spilling out faster than he intended.

There. He’d said it.

The air between them felt heavier now, like the sun streaming through the windows had dimmed just slightly. Jayce’s heart thudded in his chest as he tried to gauge their reaction.

He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together like he was about to launch into some kind of grand sales pitch. “I mean, don’t get me wrong—I love us, what we have. It’s not about that,” he added quickly, his voice steady but laced with that same nervous energy.

“I’ve just been thinking... Maybe there’s space for more, you know? Not to replace what we have but to—expand it. See where it could go.”