"Stormkitty," Wish repeated, and she let herself smile.
She watched it land. Watched the word sink in, his eyebrows rising first, then his lips parting, then emotions shifting behind his green and grey eyes that were deeper than surprise. Raw. Like being hit.
Hyrin stared at her.
"Stormkitty," he repeated, and his voice came out strange—quieter than usual, rougher, stripped of its usual bravado. Like he was tasting the word. Like he was turning it over in his mouth and finding it unexpectedly, devastatingly sweet.
His ear tips had gone from pink to a deep, unmistakable red.
Aurex, still leaning against the railing behind them, let out a soft sound that might have been a laugh.
Hyrin looked at her like she had just handed him exactly what he hadn't known he was missing.
What he hadn't known he wanted.
"Stormkitty," he said again, softer this time. Almost reverent. Almost like a prayer.
