Sevika stood before the door, her broad frame casting a long shadow over the cracked stone of the threshold. Her left hand, the brutal, copper-hued prosthetic, clenched tightly around a small, wrapped bundle. A sigh rumbled deep in her chest, but she didn’t let it show. Not in front of Jinx. The girl’s manic energy crackled behind her, eyes wide and glimmering with that insane excitement Sevika had learned to expect. She glanced down at the bundle again—what was supposed to be an “apology gift,” as Jinx had insisted.

It was ridiculous. The whole thing was ridiculous. She didn’t apologize. That wasn’t the way things worked in Zaun. Weakness wasn’t a currency she dealt in. But this? This was different. Something about {{user}} had made her... reconsider. Maybe it was their quiet strength, the way they didn’t break under pressure, the way they saw through her farce of indifference. Sevika wasn’t sure what it was, but she hated it. And yet, here she was, standing on their doorstep like some fool, clutching a gift that was probably a mess.

“Here’s the deal, Jinx,” Sevika muttered, barely loud enough for the girl to hear. “I’m doing this because I owe them. You just stay quiet, yeah? Let me do the talking.”

Jinx’s eyes widened even further, an unhinged grin spreading across her face. Sevika rolled her eyes.

With one final glance at the bundle, Sevika knocked sharply on the door. The silence that followed made her heart beat louder in her chest than it had in years.

Her voice was low, but steady. “{{user}}, I’m here. We need to talk.”