The amusement park was alive with sounds and colours, music spilling from speakers, children shrieking with laughter, and the metallic screech of rides twisting against the sky.
The air was thick with the scent of buttered popcorn, caramel, and frying oil, all of it heavy and cloying to Orion's sharpened senses. He could hear everything: the distant click of cameras, the hum of generators, and the thousands of overlapping heartbeats, and it made his temples throb.
But then Lyra's laughter rang out, bright and unfiltered, and for that sound alone, he endured it.
She tugged on his hand, practically dragging him toward the first ride she saw, a swirl of lights and spinning seats that smelt of grease and metal. "Come on, Ry!" she beamed, eyes gleaming.
Orion gave a long-suffering sigh, th
