The night was still. For once, no alarms blared. No immediate threats loomed over them. Just the steady hum of the cold wind and the occasional distant murmur of the Clan settling in for the night.
Myst sat on the balcony ledge, legs crossed, absentmindedly flipping a small throwing knife between her fingers. The city lights stretched beyond, flickering like distant stars. It was peaceful. Almost too peaceful.
The mission earlier had gone smoothly but instead of celebrating, her mind had been running in circles. They had finished without a hitch, but something about it gnawed at her, like she had missed something. Like the quiet after a storm that wasn't really over.
She exhaled, sensing a presence before she even turned her head.
"You keep doing that, you're gonna stab yourself," Blaze drawled, leaning against the doorway. He was holding a bottle of water, taking a lazy sip before stepping onto the balcony.
His voice was casual, but his eyes held something else—something she had started to notice more often.
Concern.
Myst smirked, tossing the knife one last time before catching it by the hilt. "What, worried about me now?"
Blaze scoffed, stepping closer. "I've always been worried about you. Well, after days of being a stray. You're just too reckless to notice."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the blade. Reckless. It wasn't the first time someone had called her that. Hell, it wasn't even the first time he had. But there was something different about the way he said it now.
Less exasperation. More something else.
She raised an eyebrow at that, twirling the knife one last time. "Reckless gets the job done."
Blaze shook his head, standing beside her now. "No. Smart gets the job done. Reckless gets you killed."
Myst tilted her head at him, amused. "Since when did you start giving lectures?"
"Since I had to watch you pull off that insane stunt earlier." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't even hesitate, Myst. You just throw yourself into the fire like you're immune to getting burned."
The way he said it made her pause. He wasn't just calling her reckless, he was trying to understand why.
She turned back toward the city, staring at the maze of lights below them. She could feel the weight of his gaze, waiting. But how was she supposed to explain something she didn't even fully understand herself?
"I don't know. Maybe it's just how I've always been." A beat passed. That was most likely a lie. "Or maybe... it's easier than stopping to think about everything."
That... wasn't.
Blaze was silent for a moment before he sat beside her. Not too close, but close enough that the space between them felt intentional.
"Thinking isn't a bad thing," he said quietly. "Not if it means keeping yourself alive."
Alive. What did that even mean anymore?
Alive wasn't just breathing. It wasn't just moving forward. Sometimes, it felt like surviving was just another word for running. And she had been running for a long time.
Myst let out a small laugh, but there was no humor in it. "Maybe." She turned her head slightly, studying him. "You've changed, you know. You weren't this 'brotherly' when we first met."
Blaze shrugged. "Things change. People change."
"And what changed for you?"
He didn't answer right away. For a second, she thought he wasn't going to answer.
Then, he let out a slow breath.
"You."
Myst blinked, caught off guard. "Me?"
Blaze smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You showed up, turned everything upside down, nearly got yourself killed a dozen times, and now... I don't know. I guess I started giving a damn about things I didn't before."
Her heartbeat stumbled.
The words sat between them, heavy but unspoken in ways that neither of them was ready to acknowledge.
She looked away, back at the skyline. "You make it sound like a bad thing."
Blaze chuckled, shaking his head. "Nah." He nudged her lightly with his elbow. "Just fucking annoying."
Myst rolled her eyes, but the warmth in his tone didn't go unnoticed.
For a while, neither of them spoke. The silence stretched, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was the kind of quiet that only existed between people who understood each other without needing to fill the gaps with words.
Blaze was the first to break it. "You gonna at least try to be more careful next time?"
Myst smirked. "No promises."
Blaze sighed, shaking his head, but there was no real frustration there. Just something unreadable, something that made her want to keep looking. "Of course not."
And yet, she didn't miss the way his gaze lingered, as if he was committing this moment to memory.
And maybe, just maybe, so was she.