The next few days were quiet… eerily so, considering what had come before.
No divine explosions, no ether fluctuations bending the skyline, no uninvited gods folding reality open in the living room. Just peace. Or at least Victor's version of it.
Elias had decided to make the most of it. He'd reclaimed the desk by the window, drowning himself in research papers and the half-finished draft of his dissertation. The hum of the ether stabilizers had faded into the kind of background noise his mind could work through, and the rain outside had settled into a steady, non-apocalyptic rhythm.
He'd even stopped looking over his shoulder every time the lights flickered. Progress.
Victor, for once, kept his promise. No training sessions. No half-serious lectures about defense mechanisms or divine interference. Just a kiss in the morning, a look that said 'don't overwork yourself,' and then he vanished to whatever impossible business gods handled between storms.
