-Kyle Vale:
Caspian's back was still against the wall, but only just.
The impact from when I pulled him in had already faded into something more controlled—his posture correcting itself almost immediately, like his body refused to stay in a position where he looked anything less than composed. His shoulders tightened, not in panic, but in that familiar way he always held himself when something was slipping out of his control, and he didn't like it.
His head lifted slightly.
And then his eyes snapped to mine.
There was no softness in his expression now. No confusion lingering for long enough to be readable. Just sharp awareness, immediate and cutting, as he had already decided this situation needed to be contained before it got worse.
"What are you doing?" he asked again.
The words were colder this time.
More deliberate.
Less like a question and more like a boundary being drawn.
But I didn't step back.
I couldn't.
