༺ Chapter 209 - A Wolf’s Worries (6) ༻
He brought her to the sa place as before.
Not because he thought she needed bribing, or because he was trying to force familiarity, but because he rembered the last ti they had been here, how her whole mood had shifted the mont she ate sothing decent, and how easy it had been to talk after that.
Food and honesty worked on Alia better than any speech, and Soren didn’t see the point in complicating what already worked.
They were seated near the back again, away from the loudest groups.
The warmth of the restaurant wrapped around them, the sll of cooking at making the air feel heavier in a way that was almost comforting, and the noise of other students settled into a background hum rather than sothing that demanded attention.
Soren slid the nu across the table out of habit.
Alia looked at it like it was a tactical manual.
Her eyes moved quickly, focused, almost severe, scanning the page as if she were searching for the optimal route to victory rather than deciding what to eat.
Then she pointed at the largest at platter on the page, finger landing with the certainty of soone who didn’t negotiate with hunger.
“I want that.”
Soren leaned forward, read it, and smiled.
“Good choice.”
Alia’s gaze narrowed.
“Why are you smirking?”
“I’m not?” Soren said, but his smile didn’t fade. “I was just thinking about how you’re consistent.”
That seed to satisfy her, because she didn’t argue.
She stared at the nu again for a second, as if confirming there wasn’t an even larger option hidden sowhere, then set it down like the decision was made and the world should accept it.
Soren ordered sothing simple for himself, mostly because he wasn’t starving and partly because his mind was still sitting on the earlier mont, Alia walking up to him like it was nothing and saying “Eat” like she was throwing him a rope and refusing to admit it was effort.
While they waited, a quiet settled between them.
Not awkward or strained.
The kind of quiet that existed when neither person felt the need to perform.
Soren found himself watching her hands resting on the table, relaxed, still, not clenched the way they had been lately when he caught her hovering at a distance like she was afraid of stepping wrong.
He didn’t want to prod her.
He didn’t want to turn this into him forcing her to explain what was going on, especially not when she had clearly decided to take a step forward on her own.
But he also didn’t want to pretend he hadn’t noticed.
He didn’t want to leave her alone with whatever had been twisting her up for the past week if she was giving him a chance to be near again.
So he chose the gentlest approach he had.
“Are you… feeling better?”
Alia blinked once, and to his relief she didn’t look away.
“Yes.”
Then, after a beat, as if the single word wasn’t honest enough…
“…A bit.”
Soren nodded once.
“Okay.”
Alia stared at him, and he could practically see her deciding whether saying more was worth the annoyance it would cause her pride.
“I was being stupid,” she said finally.
Soren shook his head imdiately.
“No, you weren’t.”
Her eyes narrowed like he had contradicted a fact.
“Yes, I was.”
Soren sighed and leaned back in his chair, letting the breath out slow so it didn’t co out like frustration.
“Alia.”
“What?” she asked, already ready to bite.
He kept his voice even.
“You didn’t hurt . You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t—”
He paused, then chose the simplest truth, because Alia respected simple.
“You made yourself feel worse, and now you stopped doing that. It’s as simple as that.”
Alia went quiet, staring at the tabletop as if it had personally offended her.
Soren didn’t push.
He didn’t add “and I’m glad you’re here” because that would make it heavier, and Alia had just stepped over sothing heavy to get to this table.
The last thing he wanted was to stack more weight on top of it.
The food arrived before the silence could turn sharp.
Alia stared at the platter like it was a reward for surviving sothing unpleasant, then imdiately started eating with the sa efficient focus she used in fights.
It was honestly impressive how soone could look so happy while consuming enough at to feed a small group.
Soren ate more slowly.
He wasn’t starving, and watching Alia enjoy food was… oddly satisfying.
It was like watching soone unclench without realising they were doing it, her shoulders settling by small degrees as she ate, her ears easing from that tight, irritated angle into sothing more excited.
Halfway through, Alia paused and looked up.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m not,” Soren lied shalessly.
Her gaze narrowed.
“You are.”
Soren sighed.
“Fine. I am. What of it? You just look happier when you eat.”
Alia stared at him like he had said sothing pointless, then went back to eating.
But her tail gave a small wag under the table, quick and involuntary, and Soren felt a ridiculous little warmth spread through his chest at the sight of it.
He smiled to himself and returned to his food.
After a while, Alia spoke again, quieter.
“I don’t like that feeling.”
Soren didn’t ask what feeling.
He already knew.
“ neither.”
Alia’s eyes lifted to his, and there was sothing annoyed in them, not at him exactly, more at the fact she was admitting anything at all.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Soren’s smile softened.
“I figured.”
She exhaled through her nose like she hated that he could figure things out without her explaining them, like it was unfair that he could see her so clearly when she couldn’t.
Then she said, blunt as ever, and the words hit harder than they should have.
“Next ti, I’ll just co.”
Soren paused mid-bite.
The sentence wasn’t dramatic, and Alia didn’t deliver it like a confession, but it landed with weight anyway because it was a rule.
Alia didn’t do “maybe.”
If she decided sothing, she decided it like it was a technique she planned to use again, sothing she intended to repeat until it beca instinct.
“Okay,” Soren said quietly. “Next ti, just co. I’ll be waiting.”
Alia went back to eating like the conversation hadn’t mattered.
But it had.
Soren finished his al, paid without making a big deal of it, and when they stepped back outside into the cooler air, Alia finally spoke again, her voice low.
“Thanks.”
Soren glanced at her.
“For food?”
Alia’s ears twitched.
“…For not making it weird.”
Soren stared at her for half a second, then laughed once, short and real.
“You’re the one who made it weird in the first place.”
Alia’s tail flicked.
“That’s true…” she said, sounding faintly annoyed at the agreent more than anything else.
They started walking again, back into the weekend traffic.
And without seeming to notice she was doing it, Alia drifted closer, half a step, then another, until their shoulders brushed with each step.
Soren didn’t move away.
He didn’t comnt.
He simply matched her pace and let the closeness exist like it belonged there.
Because it did.
————「❤︎」————
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