"E-Eve, please be mine! The Octavius you know died here in Thaad. Heka killed him. But the new me is nothing—a shaft and a perfectly ordinary man. A more confident one. Will you… be my wife?"
"...Yes, Tavi. I would love to marry you."
***
"Heh… Good for you, sis, good for you."
Janin stood in the narrow hallway outside Octavius's room, one ear pressed lightly to the wooden door, his body still and attentive.
The words he had just overheard—the raw, earnest proposal, Eve's tearful acceptance—brought a small, genuine smile to his face.
(No, he wasn't listening to his sister and best friend having sex. This was when Octavius proposed. Thank you for your understanding, as we protect Janin's dignity).
He pushed away from the door at once and hurried down the stairs, his footsteps quick and quiet on the worn wooden steps, out into the streets of Thaad.
