The workshop room smelled faintly of solder, wood shavings, and the faint citrus scent of Eli's cologne — something Riven refused to admit he'd started recognizing.
"Careful," Riven said, leaning over Eli's shoulder as he tried to connect two delicate wires. "If you twist it too much, it'll snap."
Eli glanced at him sideways. "If you keep breathing on my neck like that, I'll snap."
Riven smirked. "Noted." But he didn't move back.
Sunvale's Regional Exhibition prep was in full swing, and the two of them had been given an empty lab for their "innovation project." Of course, "empty" was a lie — the room was full of tools, blueprints, and a certain tension neither of them had named out loud yet.
Eli set the wire down. "You realize if we screw this up, we're basically proving half the school right about us."
Riven crossed his arms. "And if we nail it, we're making them eat their words."
Before Eli could answer, the door slammed open.
Amara Lim strode in with her clipboard, scanning the chaos in the room like a general surveying a battlefield. "Deadline's in two weeks. I want progress. I want brilliance. And I don't want to hear that either of you spent half the time bickering."
Eli raised a hand. "Technically, we only bicker about thirty percent of the time."
"Thirty-five," Riven corrected.
Amara didn't even blink. "Fix it. Or you'll be replaced."
When she left, silence hung for a beat.
Then Eli groaned, flopping into a chair. "Great. Now we have to save our reputations and avoid murdering each other."
Riven sat on the edge of the workbench, watching him. "We can do it."
Eli frowned. "You sound way too confident."
"That's because I've seen you under pressure," Riven said simply. "You don't break."
The words hung in the air, heavier than the smell of solder. Eli looked up, meeting Riven's gaze — and for a split second, the noise of the school, the deadline, the whispers outside all faded.
It was just them.
Then the buzzer for lunch break went off, jolting them apart.
Eli grabbed his notebook. "We're going to need coffee. A lot of coffee."
Riven smirked. "And maybe fewer death stares."
They left the lab, side by side — not realizing that someone had been standing just around the corner, camera in hand, capturing every moment.