The Ashen Expanse cave was warm. Not cozy-warm—more like "shelter-from-the-nightmare-wasteland-outside" warm.
The kind of warmth that made the shadows dance along the stone walls while the faint crackle of a small fire gave the place a heartbeat.
And in that heartbeat, chaos lived.
"I'm telling you, Rufus, you're doing it wrong."
Alex gestured with a walnut, as if it were a diplomatic treaty. "You can't just crack it in one go. You gotta roll it around in your hand first and get it nice and loose."
Across from him, Rufus scowled. "No. That's barbaric. You want the shell to split clean so you can get the meat in one piece."
Nibbles, seated between them like a tiny, judgmental referee, telekinetically lifted a nut, spun it mid-air, and cracked it perfectly without touching it.
Then he shoved it into his mouth with smug little chittering sounds.
Alex gasped. "See? He gets it! You play with the nut before you take it in your mouth."
