Their first real interaction was an argument.
Elena looked at him—at the lantern light catching the gold in his eyes, at the quiet certainty of his hands resting on his knees. And for the first time, she didn’t reach for a formula to explain the sudden, terrifying expansion happening in her chest.
“You’re impossible,” she whispered.
“You do believe in it,” Kai said softly, after a long silence.
Six months later, when her contract ended, she stayed.
Elena scoffed, hugging her thermal jacket tighter. “It’s an emission nebula. Ultraviolet radiation ionizing hydrogen atoms. There’s no heartbeat.”
It was maddening. It was a distraction. It was… a chemical reaction.