As they traveled through the forest, Max discovered that Lyra had an almost unsettling interest in his collection methods. She asked detailed questions about his categorization system, nodded thoughtfully at his explanations of "mystical resonance," and even requested to examine his bouncy dirt sample. No one had ever willingly asked to see his dirt samples before.
"So you're saying," she said, watching the peculiar dirt ball bounce between trees, "that you just... pick up anything that looks interesting?"
"Not everything," Max defended himself, catching the dirt before it could escape. "Only things that could be useful. Or magical. Or shiny. Or historically significant. Or—" He paused. "Okay, yes, pretty much everything."
Lyra laughed that silver-bell laugh again. "And somehow you turn it all into effective combat techniques. I've never seen anyone fight demons with allergies before."
"Technical correction: I've only done it once. Though I do have some theories about using my new crystal samples from that shattered demon. Maybe if we combine them with the slippery leaves and some of this weird sap I found—"
That's when it happened. A simple moment that would have been perfectly normal if Max's new abilities hadn't chosen that exact time to activate.
Lyra stepped closer to examine the crystal he was holding, her silver hair brushing his shoulder. She smelled like moonflowers and magic, and Max felt his heart do something complicated in his chest. He opened his mouth to say something—probably about dirt—and suddenly felt the familiar tutorial-skipping sensation wash over him.
The world flickered.
When his awareness returned, he found himself sitting beside a small campfire, much closer to Lyra than he remembered being. She was leaning against his shoulder, examining one of his rock specimens with obvious amusement. Both of them were slightly damp, there were flowers in her hair, and his jacket was draped over her shoulders.
"—and that's why I think you're absolutely adorable when you get excited about rocks," she was saying, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.
Max's brain short-circuited. What had his Scene Cut ability just skipped? Why was he wet? Where did the flowers come from? And most importantly, how had they gone from discussing combat applications of crystals to... this?
"I... uh..." he managed eloquently, frantically trying to piece together what had happened. "The rocks are... adorable?"
```
Scene Cut Summary:
- Approximately 2 hours skipped
- Current Status: Apparently romantic?
- Missing Context: Significant
- Panic Level: Rising
```
Lyra laughed, poking him in the side. "Don't try to play shy now, not after that speech about how the pattern in this stone reminded you of my eyes. Or was it after you 'accidentally' fell into the stream trying to grab that glowing moss and pulled me in with you?"
Max's face felt hot enough to forge metal. He had done what? Said what? His Scene Cut ability had apparently decided to speedrun through what seemed to be a very eventful couple of hours, and he had no idea how to handle the results.
"Right," he said weakly. "The... stream incident. With the moss. That I definitely remember doing." He paused. "Did I at least get the moss?"
She burst out laughing again, burying her face in his shoulder. "You're impossible," she said fondly. "Yes, you got the moss. It's in your endless bag with the flowers you insisted on collecting because, and I quote, 'they match your hair and probably have significant magical properties, but mostly they match your hair.'"
Max made a mental note to never let his Scene Cut ability activate during social situations again. Though, judging by the way Lyra was smiling at him and how right it felt to have her leaning against him, maybe it hadn't done such a bad job after all.
"So," he said, deciding to embrace the chaos, "want to hear my theory about how these crystals might react to moonlight? It involves at least three types of premium dirt and possibly some strategic moss placement."
"Max?"
"Yes?"
"You're trying to change the subject to dirt collecting again."
"...Maybe?"
She shifted closer, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Tell you what. If you can explain how you really got this ability to skip through conversations—yes, I noticed—I'll help you test every single one of your crystal theories, no matter how many different types of dirt they require."
Max froze. "You knew?"
"Of course I knew. You got this glazed look right before suddenly becoming surprisingly charming. It was either magic or a concussion, and since you can still name all thirty-seven varieties of your dirt samples, I assumed magic."
"Actually, it's forty-two varieties now," Max corrected automatically. "I found some interesting specimens while we were... um... doing whatever we were doing by that stream."
Lyra's laugh echoed through the forest again. "Never change, Max. Never change."
And so Max found himself in the strange position of trying to explain his Scene Cut ability to someone he had apparently just flirted with successfully, all while trying not to think too hard about what exactly had happened during those skipped scenes. At least he had his dirt collection to fall back on if the conversation got too awkward.
Though he did make a mental note to maybe start paying more attention to what his Scene Cut ability was doing. And to figure out why there were flowers in Lyra's hair. And possibly to learn how to swim, just in case he made a habit of falling into streams while collecting moss.
But first, he really did want to test that crystal theory. He had some very promising dirt samples that would be perfect for it.