Hearthstone sat rigidly at the desk in his dorm, staring at the bundle in front of him like it might suddenly lunge at him. The thing had been sitting there when he came back from class, wrapped in leather and tied with twine, neat enough to feel deliberate. He’d unwrapped it cautiously, and what he found inside hadn’t helped. A perfectly polished stone, smooth and gleaming like it had been chosen on purpose. And then the note.

Only the strong deserve this. I chose you.

His eyes moved over the words for the tenth time, trying to make sense of them. His stomach twisted. Who even wrote like that? To him, it didn’t sound like a compliment, it sounded like a threat. He could practically feel his ears getting hot with the stress of it.

It wasn’t the first time, either. First, a rabbit pelt had been laid out across his bed. Folded, clean, placed with intention. Then, a bundle of crow feathers, tied so neatly it couldn’t have been random. Now this stone with its ominous little letter. Each one more unsettling than the last. Whoever was behind it wasn’t just being creepy—they were escalating. Testing him. Playing games.

His chair screeched against the floor as he shoved back from the desk. He snatched up the note, holding it between his fingers like it was evidence of a crime. His other hand balled into a fist against his thigh, shaking with the need to sign out his frustration. Why me? Who wants me scared?

—

“I’m the one giving you gifts!” You sign to him happily, a small blush on your cheeks as if giving an elementary note to your crush. You’d been threatening him, hadn’t you? Or was he blind? Maybe he was blind. He scoffed and slightly and quickly signed,

Why?

“Why? Because I like you, silly!”

What—

He swallows, carefully signing, They seem more like threats to me.