"Not all silence is absence. Some is just… waiting to be heard."
— Mira Vey
Part I: Return
Setting: Atlas – Docking Bay
The sliding hangar doors hiss open as the team returns from another fractured timeline. The air is heavy with exhaustion. Their armor is scratched, their morphers flickering from energy drain.
Kael tosses his helmet aside, leaning against the wall. His knuckles are bloody. Thorne limps, grumbling about null specters and "annoying shadow clones." Mira is silent, tapping at her wrist interface with furrowed brows.
Rin exits last, unusually quiet.
Ayla's eyes flick briefly to him, but she says nothing.
Yet.
Kael (muttering):
"That was not a rescue. That was a collapse with extra steps."
Thorne (groaning):
"We saved three survivors, technically."
Mira (dry):
"At the cost of an entire reality thread."
Kael (tired):
"Doesn't matter. We move again in five hours."
Ayla:
"No."
Everyone looks at her. Even Rin.
Ayla:
"We stop. We breathe. Just for one night."
Thorne:
"For once, I agree with sparkles here."
Rin remains still. Kael shrugs and walks off without a word. Mira follows, still reading data from the Grid.
Only Rin and Ayla are left.
Ayla (soft):
"Hey. You okay?"
Rin (quiet):
"You don't have to ask every time."
Ayla (half-smile):
"I know. But I still will."
She turns to leave—then hesitates.
Ayla:
"You… wanna sit up top later? You know—the roof deck? Stars and stuff."
Rin doesn't reply immediately. She starts walking away.
Rin (quietly):
"…Yeah."
Ayla pauses.
Ayla (surprised):
"Wait—seriously?"
He nods once, eyes down.
Rin:
"I'll be there."
Part II: Roof Deck – 2 Hours Later
Setting: Atlas – Exterior Top Deck, night
The artificial night sky casts a soft glow. Stars shimmer across the protective dome shielding them from the collapsed timelines outside. A faint energy hums in the air—quiet, stable for now.
Ayla is already there, sitting cross-legged on the roof. A small flickering orb floats nearby, illuminating her sketchpad. She's drawing again—shapes that resemble constellations, or maybe just ideas.
Rin arrives.
Not in armor. Just in his loose white tunic and black boots.
Ayla (smiling):
"Didn't think you'd actually show."
Rin (dry):
"Neither did I."
He sits beside her. Not too close. But not far either.
Ayla:
"Ever wonder if any of those stars are real? Or if they're just… memories from timelines that don't exist anymore?"
Rin (quiet):
"Sometimes I wonder if we're just memories."
They sit in silence.
It's not awkward.
It's healing.
Ayla (teasing):
"So. You've been less broody lately. Should I be worried?"
Rin:
"I've been… thinking."
Ayla:
"Dangerous."
He actually chuckles. A faint sound, but it happens.
Rin:
"You were right. About what you said before. I do push people away."
Ayla (soft):
"Yeah. But you also saved three lives today. That matters."
He doesn't reply. But his gaze softens.
Rin:
"I don't know how to be… normal."
Ayla:
"Good. Normal's boring."
Another pause. She turns to him, voice quieter now.
Ayla:
"I don't need perfect. I just need real."
He meets her eyes. Something silent passes between them—warm and cautious.
Ayla doesn't lean in.
She just stays.
And so does he.
_______