The oasis was too quiet.
Razen could feel the stillness gnawing at him, pulling his thoughts deeper into a spiral of unease. It was supposed to be a relief—this brief respite from the Blight, the constant fight for survival. But the silence only amplified the tension that still coiled in his chest. It shouldn't have been this peaceful. Not after everything they'd just barely survived. The oasis, untouched and perfect in the middle of a dying world, felt like a fragile mirage—a momentary escape from the chaos that would eventually catch up to them.
The others, however, seemed to have settled into the calm with the ease of those who could afford to. Bunzer was sprawled out on the grass, arms behind his head, eyes half-lidded as if the whole ordeal with their latest foe had never happened. That idiot was more relaxed than he had any right to be. He should've been wound up, watching for the next threat. But no, the guy was practically purring like a lazy cat under the sun.
"Hey, Kyprosa," Bunzer's voice rang out, breaking the silence. "If I had known this place was here, I'd have made us run from our little friend way sooner."
Kyprosa's laughter bubbled up, the sound light and airy, far too carefree for the world they lived in. She leaned over a patch of vibrant flowers near the water, her fingers brushing against the petals as though she had nothing to fear, no threats creeping up from the shadows. "I think you'd run from anything, Bunzer. You've got a talent for running away from danger—just like your flirting."
"You wound me." Bunzer's exaggerated gasp made Razen's jaw tighten. "But I guess I'll just have to keep practicing, then."
The banter between the two was effortless, full of sharp words and unspoken ease. Razen could hear the light teasing in their voices, the familiarity that settled between them like an old friend, and it felt... wrong. Not because of them—because of him. The way Kyprosa laughed at Bunzer's jokes, the way her eyes softened when she looked at him, it twisted something inside him, and he hated it. He hated how easy it was for her to smile at Bunzer. Hated how her attention never lingered in his direction long enough to make him feel... seen.
Bunzer's eyes flicked over to Razen, catching the tension etched into his features. His smirk was both knowing and irritating. "You know, Razen, you should join the fun. You're looking like you've swallowed a lemon again."
Razen bit back a growl. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into their little game. He was tired of pretending to fit into this bizarre little family they had formed.
"I'm fine," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. His gaze fell to the water, the surface still and smooth, reflecting the sky above, a false sense of calm in a world that had none.
Bunzer, not one to be deterred, raised an eyebrow. "Right. Because brooding is so much more fun than teasing Kyprosa, huh?"
Kyprosa turned her head, her eyes meeting his briefly before she smiled at him—a smile that was soft, understanding, almost like she knew exactly how to reach him without ever trying. It made his insides tighten in a way he couldn't explain. The warmth in her gaze made him want to look away, but he couldn't.
Something about her always had a way of getting under his skin. It wasn't just the way she smiled at him, or how she had a kind of quiet strength that matched his own. It was the way she saw him—deep down, past the demon and the armor. And for some godforsaken reason, that always made him feel exposed.
"You really should relax," Kyprosa said, her voice soft but with that underlying confidence he couldn't ignore. "Take it easy for once. You can't fight everything, not even the silence."
Razen shifted his weight, looking away quickly. "Not everything is worth relaxing for."
She wasn't wrong, though. He knew it. He wasn't even sure why he had to be on edge all the time, but it was just... how he was. How he had been for so long. When the world didn't stop trying to kill you, peace didn't exist. It was a lie, a fragile illusion. And for someone like him, someone who had learned the hard way that peace always ended in disaster, it was something he couldn't trust.
Her soft laughter interrupted his thoughts. "You really don't know how to just sit back and enjoy a moment, do you?"
Razen's hand clenched, and he forced himself to look away from her. She didn't understand, couldn't understand the weight of it all—the feeling that the storm was always coming, always just over the horizon. Peace didn't last. It was only a brief distraction before the next fight.
"Not my thing," he muttered, avoiding her eyes. His gaze went to the sky instead, but he wasn't seeing the bright blue or the floating clouds. His mind kept wandering to darker places, the endless fights, the bloodshed, the people he'd failed. Peace was nothing more than a break before the next loss.
"Hmm." Kyprosa stood up from her crouched position by the flowers, brushing the dirt from her palms. She walked over to him, her footsteps light against the ground, and before he could stop himself, his eyes followed her every movement.
"What now?" he asked, his voice flat. He couldn't let himself care, couldn't let himself be drawn in, but it didn't stop his mind from tracing the line of her figure.
Her lips curled in that mysterious, knowing smile, the one that made him want to understand her better and hate it at the same time. "Now? Now, you're going to stop looking at me like I'm the next thing that's going to kill you."
She was standing so close now, her scent drifting through the air like something familiar, something he couldn't quite place but recognized all the same. Something in him twisted, that dark, unfamiliar ache clawing at his insides again.
"I'm not worried about you," he muttered, voice rougher than he intended. He wanted to say more—something that would push her away, something to force that connection between them to break. But it didn't come. Instead, he felt himself growing more irritated with every passing second, every smile that she sent his way.
"Are you sure?" she asked, a playful edge to her voice, though there was something deeper in her eyes, something that made the tension in the air feel thick enough to cut.
"Positive," he snapped, turning his back on her, though the words were nothing but a shield. A lie. But it was easier to lie than face whatever the hell this was between them. Easier than admitting that her presence, her smile, the way her eyes flicked to him when no one else was watching, unsettled him more than he'd ever admit.
And for the first time in a long while, Razen couldn't decide if it was the peace that made him restless or something—someone—closer than that.