The table on the terrace was set with an elegance that was already starting to feel familiar. Fine porcelain cups, carefully arranged small desserts, and the garden stretching beyond like a flawless backdrop.
Ryan kept discussing her time with Palmer, arguing over technical details. Bright chimed in every so often with genuine enthusiasm. Ardan listened attentively. Dober seemed less interested in the conversation than in observing reactions.
I held my cup with both hands.
The slight tremor in my arms hadn't completely disappeared yet.
"You shouldn't push yourself so hard on your first day," Ardan commented softly.
"It wasn't that bad," I replied.
Ryan looked up.
"It was decent," she admitted. "For someone who started today."
I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or a challenge.
McQueen remained seated across from me. Her posture was impeccable, as always, but I noticed something different: she was quieter than usual. Not distant. Just thoughtful.
"McQueen," Palmer said suddenly, "what do you think?"
"About what, exactly?" she replied without changing her tone.
"About our guest."
The silence was immediate.
I felt the heat rise up my neck.
"Palmer," Bright warned in a low voice.
"What? I'm just asking."
McQueen didn't look away from her cup.
"I think he pushes himself harder than necessary," she finally said.
My stomach gave a little lurch.
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked before I could stop myself.
McQueen looked up then. Her eyes met mine without hesitation.
"It depends on the reason."
The air seemed to grow heavier.
"I don't think he's trying to impress us," Ryan interjected, crossing her arms. "That would be pointless."
"Thanks..." I muttered.
Palmer let out a low laugh.
"I wouldn't be so sure."
"Palmer," Bright repeated, firmer this time.
But the comment had already done its work.
I looked away toward the garden.
Was I trying to impress someone?
The question made me more uncomfortable than I expected.
It wasn't that I wanted to prove something. Not exactly.
But when I pushed the chair... when McQueen looked at me that way...
I felt something.
McQueen placed her cup on the saucer with a faint clink.
"Palmer," she said softly, but with implicit authority, "don't turn everything into a game."
Palmer raised both hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright."
The conversation drifted to other topics, but the tension didn't disappear entirely. After a few minutes, Dober stood up.
"I have early training tomorrow," she announced. "I won't be staying much longer."
Ardan followed her shortly after. Ryan excused herself after finishing her second cup. Bright began gathering the plates with quiet efficiency. Before I knew it, only McQueen and I were left at the table.
The sun was beginning to set again.
"You don't have to take what Palmer says seriously," she commented without looking directly at me.
"I don't."
A partial lie.
McQueen noticed.
"If you want to impress someone," she continued, "do it for the right reasons."
"And what are those?"
Now she did look at me.
"The ones you don't need to justify."
I stayed silent.
There was something in the way she spoke that wasn't just advice. It was experience. As if she had already gone through something similar.
"Are you trying to impress someone?" I asked impulsively.
McQueen held my gaze a second longer than usual.
"No."
The answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
She stood up from her chair.
"You should rest. You've done enough for today."
The change in tone was subtle, but evident.
"McQueen," I called out before she walked away.
She stopped.
"When I ran..." I said carefully, "I wasn't thinking about impressing you all."
She waited.
"I was thinking about not getting left behind."
The wind slightly rustled the leaves of the trees. The garden seemed to be listening.
McQueen turned fully toward me.
Her expression was no longer distant.
"Then don't," she said.
"It's not that simple."
"No," she admitted. "It isn't."
She walked back until she stood in front of me.
"But you're not alone in that race, either."
She didn't add anything else.
Bright appeared on the terrace with the last tray in her hands.
"Is everything alright?" she asked with a light smile.
"Yes," McQueen answered before I could. "Everything is fine."
Bright nodded and went back inside.
McQueen took a step back.
"Come," she said. "I'll walk you inside."
This time she didn't walk in front or behind. She stepped to my side. And even though neither of us said anything else, the distance between us wasn't exactly the same as before.
From the second-floor window, someone was watching the scene.
Mejiro Ryan leaned her elbow on the frame, looking down with a thoughtful expression.
She didn't look upset, but she wasn't indifferent, either.