The door to the dimly lit room opened with a soft creak. A thin line of light from the hallway stretched inward before being swallowed by the shadows. Clyde stepped across the threshold with measured caution, his presence subdued, his movements restrained as if he feared that even the slightest sound might break the silence.
His gaze lifted almost immediately, finding Darcy without effort, as though he had expected him to be sitting exactly there. Their eyes met in silence. Darcy's eyes were dark, heavy with exhaustion and a bit different from before, as if some of that unresolved and lingering pain had finally faded. Clyde's expression did not change, yet there was a brief, almost imperceptible pause in his movement, a moment where his composure threatened to falter. It lasted no more than a heartbeat before he continued forward.
