"Where do we start with the investigation?"
Ezra didn't even try to ease into it.
The question came out too quickly, cutting cleanly through whatever tension was left from before, like he was deliberately steering them away from a direction he didn't want to face.
He kept his expression steady, but there was a stiffness in the way his shoulders held, the way his fingers rested just a little too firmly against the table.
He knew he had lost that conversation.
And instead of acknowledging it, he chose to bury it.
'Just move on,' Ezra thought, keeping his gaze on Kaelis, refusing to let it drift. 'If I stay on it, I'll just make it worse.'
He expected resistance.
A comment.
Something sharp and teasing, something Kaelis would usually throw his way without hesitation.
Ezra had already braced himself for it, the way one braces for something familiar and unavoidable.
But it didn't come.
