Jae had never considered how undignified it was to trip with his pants halfway down, but he learned quickly the moment his boot caught the edge of the desk leg. The stumble was clumsy, graceless, and impossible to style into anything remotely cool. He hit the stone floor with a solid thud that echoed through the classroom.
For a second there was silence. Then Tirel, standing a few steps away, froze mid-movement. Her lips parted, and he could almost see the war inside her: concern first, then amusement, then the overwhelming need to laugh.
She tried to swallow it down. She really did. But the effort lasted only a heartbeat. Her laugh broke out bright and unrestrained, bouncing off the walls of the empty room, rich enough to make Jae's ears burn.
"You…" she gasped between fits of laughter, bracing herself on the edge of a desk, "you actually fell! And like that? Gods, Jae, I thought you were supposed to be graceful."
