The silence stretched. Thick, dangerous, suffocating.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them looked away.
For a moment, it felt like the room could split in half under the weight of it.
Kael's gaze was sharp, unyielding. Don's… colder. Quieter. The kind of quiet that didn't need volume to threaten.
Then, finally, Don stepped back.
Slow. Deliberate.
Like he had already decided how this would end.
"You've just crossed a line you won't be able to uncross," he said, his voice low, controlled… but laced with something darker beneath.
A pause.
His eyes flicked briefly to me, just for a second.
Not soft.
Not questioning.
Just noting.
Then he turned. And walked out.
Just like that. Without chaos nor raising his voice, just a warning that lingered long after the door closed behind him.
The moment he was gone, the air shifted.
Kael moved instantly.
"Eli..." he stepped closer, his hands hovering like he didn't know where to check first. "Did he hurt you?"
