An hour after the final goodnights had been exchanged, the bedroom remained plunged in silence.
"..."
Amidst this silence, Soren lay perfectly flat on his back, staring into the pitch-black room with his arms locked rigidly at his sides.
He didn't dare roll over; any movement would shift the mattress, and his senses were already picking up the restless, tightly wound anxiety buzzing from her side of the bed.
'I'm an awakened anyway; this much is nothing. Yeah...'
Across that narrow gap of space, Ethea was staring blankly at the ceiling, her mind locked in an endless, hyper-aware loop. The comforting warmth she had noted earlier had transformed into a massive, distracting presence just a couple of feet away.
She, too, refused to move a single muscle, determined not to let him know she was struggling to sleep after setting up the entire thing.
'I am used to this anyway; yeah, one sleepless night doesn't make a difference.'
"..."
