"You've been staring at him again," Japer said, plopping into the seat beside Elias in the courtyard.
Elias, mid-page in a dense theory book on dual-casting, didn't even look up. "I stare at many people."
"Right. But you glare at Kael like he personally offended your family crest."
"He has."
"More than once."
Japer grinned, clearly enjoying himself. "Which makes it all the more suspicious that you keep ending up near him. Sitting across from him in class, ending up on the same patrols, accidentally matching robes—"
"That was one time," Elias snapped.
"And it was a romantic shade of blue."
Elias slammed the book shut and turned to Japer with an expression just short of a weather spell. "Do you need something, or are you just emotionally constipated today?"
"I'm just saying," Japer said, hands raised in mock surrender, "you don't glare at anyone else with that much emotional investment."
"I am not invested."
"You're entangled."
Elias stood up. "Not everything tangled is a thread worth following."
"But some tangles aren't meant to be unraveled," Japer added, quieter.
Elias paused—just for a moment—then walked off.
---
Later that day, Kael found Japer by the fire orb in the common hall, twirling a rune pen between his fingers.
"You've been busy," Kael said, casually.
Japer raised a brow. "What, you stalking me now too?"
Kael smirked. "Just wondering why you keep poking Elias like he's your personal harp."
Japer's grin faltered, just slightly. "Maybe I'm just watching the weave."
"You mean pulling at it."
Japer looked away. "He's too tightly wound."
Kael tilted his head. "And you think I'm the knife to his knot?"
"You're something," Japer muttered.
Kael crossed his arms. "You want something from him. What is it?"
"I want him to wake up," Japer snapped. "To stop pretending he's not breaking inside."
Kael's gaze sharpened. "He's not yours to break further."
Japer stood slowly. "And he's not yours to fix."
For a long moment, they just stared at each other.
Not enemies. Not friends.
But dangerously adjacent.
---
Meanwhile, Elias was in the archives, going through records he shouldn't have had access to.
His family name didn't show up in the lineage records for any registered magical houses.
Not once.
As if someone had scrubbed it clean.
Or hidden it.
And in the margin of a torn page, he found the only remaining thread:
"Spellwoven blood. Locked. Sealed. Untouched."
He stared at the words until the ink blurred.
Japer's voice echoed in his mind: "I want him to wake up."
But Elias was already awake.
He just didn't like what he was seeing.
---
That night, Kael found Elias sitting in the observatory tower, staring at the stars like they owed him answers.
"You look like you're about to duel a constellation," Kael said, leaning on the rail.
Elias didn't turn. "You ever feel like everything is lying to you?"
Kael let out a quiet breath. "Every single day."
Another silence passed between them.
Then Elias said, "Japer's digging."
Kael nodded. "He's good at that."
"I don't know if he's trying to help me or ruin me."
Kael sat down beside him. "Probably both. He's the kind of guy who opens wounds just to check if they still bleed."
Elias glanced sideways. "And what are you?"
Kael's expression shifted—guarded, but real. "I'm the guy who bleeds back."
That, for some reason, made Elias laugh.
Just once. Soft and bitter.
And Kael didn't smile.
But he stayed.