Jax did not move for several minutes after waking, instead just leaning back there and thinking about what happened while the world resettled around him.
Serika's breathing was slow and even against his chest, her warmth familiar, grounding. The room was still very quiet and relaxed, yet Jax's mind was anything but those two.
Kayle's smile lingered like a blade left resting on the throat.
'I claim.
Jax exhaled slowly through his nose.
Gods, sisters, rivalries older than the modern world itself… and him, caught squarely in the middle like a living chess piece everyone suddenly wanted to move.
"…Troublesome," he muttered again, softer this time.
He carefully shifted Serika, easing her back onto the pillows. She murmured once, tail flicking faintly, but did not wake. Jax rose, bare feet touching the cold obsidian floor, shadows instinctively wrapping around him like a cloak.
