Astov snorted. The tender warmth in his eyes curdled into something dry and cutting now that they were out of earshot. "Worried? Over 'her'? Please. She can't even handle one collapsing empire without writing me letters like—what was it—" he raised his voice half a note higher, mocking, "''Astov, everything is on fire, they're all idiots, come fix my mess or I'll haunt you across dimensions''?"
Heena's eye twitched. She kept her head turned just enough that anyone watching would think she was gazing fondly up at him.
"Like hell I 'called' you," she hissed. "Did I drag your dramatic ass back from your little exile vacation? No. 'You' want something from 'me', remember? So stop acting like the diva that you are."
Astov stopped walking for half a heartbeat, then resumed, matching her pace again. To a distant observer, it was only a small, affectionate pause.
