Alex leaned forward, his hazel eyes narrowing, a ripple of unease threading through him as the cafeteria's vibrant hum, faded into the background.
Bastian's puzzling observation about his emotions being faint lingered like a half-solved riddle, and Alex's voice dropped, probing for clarity.
"What's that mean?" he asked, his tone quieter, searching, the nebula-painted ceiling above pulsing faintly as he focused on Bastian's mischievous grin.
Bastian leaned back in his chair, his piercing blue eyes glinting with a playful curiosity, his lopsided smile widening as if the mystery was a game he was happy to play.
"No idea, man," he said, his voice a smooth, teasing drawl that invited Alex to laugh off the oddity. "Just means you're harder to read than most. Probably tied to that whole 'random origin' thing—y'know, popping up in a forest like some cosmic delivery gone wrong."
