Later that night, Alex lay awake in bed, sleepless. When he’d gotten back to the apartment, Julian was there, but Elza was still out. He was still a bit rankled by her beating him, and everything was just getting too complicated to think about. He just wanted to move on to the next day, to the next class, to just keep moving forward. Maybe all of this was just a temporary state on Elza’s part. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he’d have an impressively skilled Pair who clearly was one of the strongest people in their class - he only added “one of” to try and hold on to his belief that he was the best - or maybe she’d completely self-destruct and take him down with her.
God, maybe this whole thing of sneaking off during meals was due to an eating disorder? Elza was clearly stressed out, perhaps past her limits. He should keep an eye out for that - he’d have to keep a close eye on her body - er, her weight - and make sure she was eating well. Maybe he should try cooking for her? Why would I even think that?
What was certain was that he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He stared, daydreaming, out the sliding glass door from his room onto the veranda.
And saw, just barely, the slightest slip of a shape climb up the wall, and drop onto their balcony, just in front of Elza’s room. He could feel his mind trying to slide off of it, and then, Elza dropped Obscuration and snuck into her room.
It was well past midnight. He’d assumed that she’d come back into the apartment sometime when he’d been trying to sleep, and she’d just been quiet about it. That had been extremely wrong.
What the Hell was going on?