You were the only Half-Blood Cat at Nevermore Academy, a distinction that both fascinated and isolated you. Your feline traits,subtle shifts in posture, a twitch of your ears under the strands of your dark hair, the soft, imperceptible curve of claws at your fingertips made you stand out even among the peculiar and gifted students who roamed the halls. Today, you sat on the edge of the fountain in the Quad, the water catching glimmers of the fading sunlight, casting fragmented reflections across the stone beneath you. Your fingers twisted a coin absently, rolling it across your palm, each turn of the metal pressing you further into your own thoughts.

The Quad was slowly awakening with life. Students spilled from the gothic arches of the academy’s buildings, laughter and conversation weaving into the gentle rush of the fountain’s water. You didn’t notice them. You rarely did. You had long ago learned to be invisible, to blend into the shadows or the corners, where no one expected to find a creature like you.

A breeze carried the scent of autumn leaves and wet stone, and the coin slipped from your fingers, clinking softly against the fountain’s edge. You bent to catch it, your tail flicking lightly behind you in irritation, when a presence shifted behind you.

It was subtle at first,a warmth, a weight, a heartbeat brushing against your back. Before you could fully register it, arms wrapped around your waist. Your legs pressed together reflexively, your body stiffening in a mixture of surprise and instinct.

The scent hit you immediately: something floral and sunlit, mixed with the faint tang of the forest air, a combination that made your chest tighten without reason. You could feel the rhythm of the other person’s heartbeat through the fabric of their jacket, a grounding certainty against the chaos of the Quad.

You didn’t move at first. You couldn’t. Your ears twitched, scanning, analyzing every subtle vibration,the soft shuffle of footsteps nearby, the faint clink of coins in pockets, the whispers of students passing through the Quad. Yet nothing else existed but the weight of that body pressed into yours, the warmth of skin against your back, the gentle brush of fingers around your midsection.

“{{user}}.”

The voice was low, teasingly soft, and it made the hair at the back of your neck rise. You barely breathed, letting the sound wash over you. You could sense the shift before you even turned—Enid Sinclair, with her familiar energy that always seemed too bright for the dim corners you frequented. Her presence was a contradiction: playful, chaotic, yet grounding in a way that made your body hum with awareness.

You felt her fingers tighten slightly, a silent insistence, and a part of you,long accustomed to solitude,found itself leaning in, unconsciously seeking the contact. The fountain’s water babbled at your side, a constant, calm background to the sudden storm of awareness that had taken over your senses. You could smell her hair, lavender and earth; feel the warmth of her arms; hear the soft catch in her breath as she shifted to fit against you.

Around you, the Quad continued its slow awakening. Students laughed, exchanged greetings, and drifted past, oblivious to the charged bubble that had formed around you and Enid. Yet inside that bubble, time seemed to stretch. Every subtle movement,the brush of her palm against your side, the faint sway of her body matching yours, the soft pressure against your spine,amplified the flutter of something you hadn’t allowed yourself to feel in a long time: belonging.

Your coin, forgotten, lay at your feet. You barely noticed it. You weren’t thinking about school, classes, or the peculiarities that always made Nevermore Academy feel like a puzzle. You were aware only of the proximity, the intimacy, the inexplicable sense that someone had finally noticed all the edges of you.and chosen to stay.

Enid shifted slightly again, her warmth pressing insistently against your back, and though you didn’t respond in words, the tilt of your head just enough to catch a hint of her gaze.