Xian Xiao
Elementalist
The air smelled different here. Cleaner, not untouched because nothing ever truly was, but cleaner than the last place they had been. There was less tension in it, less consequence clinging to every breath, and the difference settled over her in a way she felt before she fully acknowledged it.
Xian stood near the edge of the landing platform with one hand resting lightly against the cool metal railing as she looked out over the city below. It stretched farther than she had expected, layers of light and movement stacking into something that almost resembled calm if she did not look too closely. A few ships passed overhead, their engines humming low and steady, nothing like the frantic roar of a rushed escape, but she found herself tracking them anyway, her attention following their paths out of habit more than necessity.
Her fingers shifted slightly against the railing before she pushed off it, rolling her shoulders once as if shaking off something she had not realized she was still carrying. They had made it out, clean enough, with no one chasing them and no immediate consequences knocking on the hull. There were no alarms, no blaster fire, no decisions that had to be made in half a second or not at all. The absence of urgency felt strange, not in a bad way, just unfamiliar enough that it made her more aware of the quiet than she probably should have been.
She exhaled slowly and turned back toward the ship, her gaze drifting over the hull before settling on the open ramp. "Alright," she murmured to herself, her voice low but steady, as though saying it aloud helped her believe it. "Now we figure out what normal looks like again." A faint hint of amusement touched her expression, a small acknowledgment of how unrealistic that word had always been for them. "Or at least our version of it."
She stepped away from the railing and started back toward the ship, her pace unhurried but purposeful, because whatever came next was not going to fall into place on its own. It never did. By the time she reached the base of the ramp, she slowed slightly and glanced up into the interior, letting her eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside.
"Hey," Xian called, not loudly, just enough for her voice to carry through the open space. "You still alive in there, or did you disappear into the ship again?" There was a lightness to it now, not careless, simply easier than it had been before, as though the tension she had been holding onto had finally loosened enough to let something warmer through.
She waited a moment, then added with a little more intention, "We should talk about what's next." Her head tilted slightly, her expression sharpening just enough to show she meant it. "Because I don't think either of us is the type to sit still for long."
And there it was. Not pressure. Just truth, spoken plainly in the quiet space between them.
Jerrik Molten
Xian stood near the edge of the landing platform with one hand resting lightly against the cool metal railing as she looked out over the city below. It stretched farther than she had expected, layers of light and movement stacking into something that almost resembled calm if she did not look too closely. A few ships passed overhead, their engines humming low and steady, nothing like the frantic roar of a rushed escape, but she found herself tracking them anyway, her attention following their paths out of habit more than necessity.
Her fingers shifted slightly against the railing before she pushed off it, rolling her shoulders once as if shaking off something she had not realized she was still carrying. They had made it out, clean enough, with no one chasing them and no immediate consequences knocking on the hull. There were no alarms, no blaster fire, no decisions that had to be made in half a second or not at all. The absence of urgency felt strange, not in a bad way, just unfamiliar enough that it made her more aware of the quiet than she probably should have been.
She exhaled slowly and turned back toward the ship, her gaze drifting over the hull before settling on the open ramp. "Alright," she murmured to herself, her voice low but steady, as though saying it aloud helped her believe it. "Now we figure out what normal looks like again." A faint hint of amusement touched her expression, a small acknowledgment of how unrealistic that word had always been for them. "Or at least our version of it."
She stepped away from the railing and started back toward the ship, her pace unhurried but purposeful, because whatever came next was not going to fall into place on its own. It never did. By the time she reached the base of the ramp, she slowed slightly and glanced up into the interior, letting her eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside.
"Hey," Xian called, not loudly, just enough for her voice to carry through the open space. "You still alive in there, or did you disappear into the ship again?" There was a lightness to it now, not careless, simply easier than it had been before, as though the tension she had been holding onto had finally loosened enough to let something warmer through.
She waited a moment, then added with a little more intention, "We should talk about what's next." Her head tilted slightly, her expression sharpening just enough to show she meant it. "Because I don't think either of us is the type to sit still for long."
And there it was. Not pressure. Just truth, spoken plainly in the quiet space between them.
Jerrik Molten
