Elara's POV
He was already at the garden when I arrived, sitting on the bench with a small paper bag beside him and that unhurried stillness he carried everywhere, and he looked up when he heard my footsteps with an expression that was warmer than his usual calm in a way I was starting to recognise as specifically reserved for me, and something about that thought alone was enough to make the walk from the main building feel considerably shorter than it actually was.
I sat beside him and he did not say anything immediately, just reached into the paper bag and set things on the bench between us one at a time, and I looked down and felt something unexpected move through my chest because it was my favourite chocolate, the specific kind from the market on the east side of town that I had ment
