"You know..." I muttered over my shoulder, "I could never get used to you showing up out of nowhere like that."
The words hung in the quiet air of the hallway, flat and dry, the kind of thing I said more out of habit than actual complaint. I didn't turn around to know who it was.
I already knew from the faint, almost tiny shift in the air pressure, from the way the mana seemed to grow still and cold, like the surface of a frozen lake. Besides this exact thing had happened so many times over the past few months that it had stopped being surprising and started being routine.
A soft, almost soundless footfall echoed behind me.
"...Good morning, Leo."
The voice was flat, and blunt.
It was the kind of voice that most people found unsettling, too calm, too measured, like the speaker was reading from a script they didn't fully understand. But I had grown used to it. More than that... I had grown fond of it.
I finally turned around slowly.
