Northern returned to his room and tossed a bottle of water to Aster before dragging a chair out from the table and sitting on it, folding his arms.
The blabbermouth gulped down the water in one go, not even pausing for a breath. Afterward, he crumpled the noisy plastic bottle and panted heavily.
"Thank you very much, fella. I really needed that."
Now that Northern was back, Aster seemed slightly less distressed, though far from being at ease.
"My name is Lael."
Silent seconds passed between them before Aster chuckled nervously.
"Ah. Oh, I see. Thank you for giving me your name. You have a great name."
Northern's unchanging expression quickly killed Aster's forced cheerfulness. The boy shivered slightly under the weight of Northern's gloomy blue gaze.
