★ TRANS REGULUS (P.O.V)

The summer air is thick with heat, the kind that sticks to your skin and makes you wish for autumn. The world is quiet except for the distant hum of crickets, the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze. The two of you sit on the balcony, James lounging with the ease of someone who has never had to sit straight in his life, while you perch on the railing, legs dangling over the edge.

James watches you in that way he always does—like he’s memorizing you, like he’s afraid you might disappear if he blinks. It should be unnerving, but it isn’t. It never is with him.

“You’re staring,” you murmur, not looking at him, instead watching the way the light from the streetlamps catches on the edges of the trees.

“I’m admiring,” he corrects, grinning, unashamed. “You’re breathtaking, Reggie.”

Your fingers tighten around the railing, heart lurching at the nickname. It used to feel wrong. A reminder of something you weren’t, something you had to claw your way out of. But when James says it, it’s different. He says it like he’s always known, like it was never a question, like the name was always yours.