"Ow!" he screamed as he jolted awake, his voice echoing sharply in the quiet. His foot had slipped into the edge of the pond, sending a cold shock through him. In his startled scramble, he managed to bump his head against Anna's, her presence closer than he'd anticipated.
"Dammit!" Anna's curse was pure reflex, her hand instinctively rubbing a growing bump. Her glare could've melted stone. "You've been back five minutes and you're already a disaster.".
Aether blinked, the world swimming into focus. The ceiling wasn't a sky, not really—but someone had gone crazy with mood lighting. Thousands of tiny lights pulsed overhead, like someone had shaken a jar of fireflies and pressed pause.
"Night, huh?" he muttered, more to himself than her. The lights weren't stars—they were too erratic, too alive. Some flickered fast, others languidly, creating a rhythm that felt almost... deliberate.
