"Aria Aria?"
The sun had tilted westward, casting long shadows across the quarter. The bells had rung an hour ago, and the street had begun to slow—just enough to feel the pause before evening stirred it back awake.
Aria remained at the elevated post, arms folded behind her back, gaze scanning the rooftops and junctions with quiet precision. Her coat barely moved in the wind. She hadn't spoken in nearly forty minutes.
Then—
Footsteps. Fast. Slightly off rhythm. A soft thud of boots and papers and something muttered about being "late for my own schedule—again—how does this happen every time?"
Aria's eyes shifted.
A blue-clad figure rounded the far stall corner at a half-sprint, hair a bit windblown, one sleeve bunched at the elbow. Lili. Her new Aegis coat was slightly crooked, one cuff still half-tucked. The clipboard under her arm flapped with every stride. She was juggling it with a folded map and what looked like three pens, one of which promptly slipped from her grip and bounced off the cobbles.
She didn't stop.
"Hi! Hello! Northeast quarter—I'm here for the shift log and Reeve status check and—"
"Lili?"
She blinked. Froze mid-step.
Then spun around toward the voice like someone had just called her name during a test.
"Milo?" she gasped.
He was still perched on the stair rail, arms draped over his knees, grinning like he'd been waiting just for this moment.
"Oh my stars!" Lili flailed her clipboard once before catching it again. "You're posted here? I didn't even check the duty overlay—of course I didn't, because I was too busy wrangling these forms—Milo!"
She all but skipped the last few steps and threw her arms around him in a quick, one-armed hug, nearly smacking him with her map in the process.
He wheezed out a laugh. "Still a tornado, I see."
"You're a Vigil now!" she said, pulling back. "Wait, you've been a Vigil—gods, sorry, I forgot how time works. I haven't seen you since—what, week twenty-one? Weapons drills?"
"You're the one in a blue coat now," Milo said, giving her outfit an exaggerated once-over. "Aegis, huh?"
"Yes!" she beamed, straightening her collar — which only made it worse. "Promotion just came earlier. Almost had a heart attack, but guess what heart still beating normal"
"You're in charge for the festival?"
"Well, just this check. Logs and lineup and Reeve status confirmation. It's not glamorous but I get to stamp things and no one's stopped me yet so that feels like a win."
Tarin, watching from beside the wallboard, leaned toward Milo. "You didn't say your friend was this much energy."
"I forgot," Milo said dryly. "She condenses into paperwork now."
Lili stuck out her tongue. "Some of us believe in structure."
Then she pivoted back toward the post, straightening her clipboard and taking a breath. "Okay. Focus. Northeast quarter, shift log and Reeve status check—"
She looked up toward the platform. Her eyes widened slightly.
"—I'm looking for the Reeve assigned here?"
A figure stepped forward into her peripheral view.
"That's me," said a voice — flat, calm, unshakable.
Lili turned.
And froze.
Aria stood like she'd been carved from stillness — burnt crimson, coat crisp, posture composed, gaze level. The breeze moved past her, but nothing else did.
Lili's mouth opened slightly. Then closed again.
"...You're the Reeve?" she managed, voice much smaller now.
"I am."
Lili's gaze did a full scan—coat, stance, eyes. Recognition hit all at once.
"Oh stars," she breathed.
A pause.
"Wait—sorry, what's your name?"
Aria tilted her head, just a hair. "Aria Rouge."
There was a beat of silence.
Then Lili made a sound like a squeak trapped inside a gasp.
"As in Aria Aria?"
Aria didn't blink. "I wasn't aware there was another."
Lili made a noise like a kettle boiling too fast and immediately slapped the clipboard against her chest like she could bury her entire soul behind it.
"I'm sorry," she said in a rush. "I just—I mean—I studied your—well, not your files, not like files files, but your mission summaries, and the tower logs, and that one entry from the Arcupil rotation—"
"Lili," Milo warned gently from the side.
She stiffened. "Right. Not helping myself."
Then she took a breath, straightened fully, and snapped off a salute. "Hello. Aegis Lili, reporting for checkpoint log review and personnel verification. I apologize for the squeaking."
Aria gave the smallest nod, and didn't speak.
Lili logged everything.
Then she glanced up again.
"You're really here," she said, almost to herself.
"I am," Aria said confused.
Lili scrambled back into task-mode. "Right! Logs. Checkpoint integrity. I'll file a shift update now. Then get out of your—um—airspace."
She moved toward the board, flipping through her clipboard with fingers that definitely weren't trembling. One sheet fluttered out; she caught it with her wrist and let out a quiet "ha!" like she'd won a small battle.
Above her, Aria returned to her post. Silent. Unshaken.
Lili peeked up once, just to check.
Aria hadn't moved.
But Lili still felt like she was being watched.
And she had never wanted to get a form more correct in her entire life.