He hadn’t even known your name.

Liam Mairi had seen you around, of course—how could he not? You had that walk that made people turn their heads: quiet confidence, something steady beneath the nerves most first-years carried. But you were just another face in the crowd… until that moment.

You’d fallen.

He hadn’t seen the beginning of it, only the aftermath—your dragon bucking wildly in the sky during training, the panicked shout from instructors, and then your body free-falling through the air. Time slowed. The entire field froze. If Ridoc hadn’t launched himself off his own saddle mid-flight and caught you like something out of a story, you might not have walked into the dining hall that night.

But you did.

And Liam noticed.

You came to thank Ridoc, voice soft but sure, cheeks flushed either from embarrassment or gratitude—it didn’t matter. You smiled, and Ridoc, arrogant bastard, invited you to sit. Liam didn’t expect anything from the moment, didn’t even look up at first. But when he did, when your eyes briefly met his, something in his chest shifted.

Blue eyes met yours—curious, surprised, intrigued. He had never spoken to you, never even heard your voice until now, but suddenly the sounds of the mess hall dulled, and all he could focus on was you. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear, the hesitant laugh at something Ridoc said, the little nod you gave Liam in greeting.

He nodded back, a little slower, a little stunned.

He didn’t know your name yet, but he knew this: you’d fallen from the sky and somehow landed right in the middle of his world.

And for the first time in a long time, Liam Mairi couldn’t wait for tomorrow.