The lantern light swung toward the edge of the platform.
Saffi looked down at Raizen through the fog.
Raizen looked up at Saffi through the fog.
The lantern light crept toward the edge.
For one stretched, airless second, neither of them moved.
Then Saffi closed her eyes
And she jumped.
She didn't announce it. Didn't warn him. One moment she was pressed against the wall - the next she was falling through the fog, arms tight against her chest, eyes squeezed shut.
Raizen lunged forward.
He caught her wrong. His arms hooked under her back but the angle was off - her momentum carried them both sideways, and his foot slipped on the wet bark. His back hit the branch first. Then Saffi on top of him. The impact drove the air out of his lungs in a single, forced grunt, and for a horrible second they slid together toward the edge of the branch, bark scraping against Raizen's spine, until his hand caught a ridge and stopped them.
They just lay there. Tangled. Breathing hard.
