I don’t argue.
Instead, I let my gaze settle on her, taking in the details without the need to analyze them, the way the firelight catchesalong the edge of her features, the faint tension that hasn’t fully left her even now, even here.
“You should rest,” she adds after a moment.
“I am.”
“This doesn’t count.”
“It does.”
That earns a smile from her. She exhales slowly, then lets her head rest back down against me again, closer this time, the movement careful without being hesitant. My hand shifts slightly in response, adjusting without thought, keeping her where she settled.
Neither of us speaks after that. We don’t need to.
For a moment, there is nothing to manage, nothing to control, nothing to calculate beyond what is directly in front of me. The simplicity of it feels temporary. It probably is. I don’t move to change it.
Later,the cave settles back into quiet.
The fire has burned lower, the light softer now, shadows stretching longer along the stone walls, returning the space to something more familiar.
She’s no longer on top of me, but she hasn’t gone far. Close enough that the absence of contact still feels like presence. I sit back against the stone again, the pain along my side sharper now that everything else has settled, the cost of movement returning in full, but it remains manageable.
It doesn’t matter. What matters is clearer now.
This time I don’t measure distance or advantage. I don’t look for leverage. I adjust something else instead.
“You made a choice,” I say again, just because I want to put an end to this.
“Yes.”
“And you’ll do it again.”
“If I have to.”
I nod once. That answer doesn’t change. It won’t.
“That means we adjust.”
Her gaze sharpens slightly. “We?”
“Yes.”
The word feels differently now. Chosen.
“I don’t give up control easily,” I say.
“I noticed.”
“But forcing it here,” I continue, holding her gaze, “serves no purpose.”
There’s a pause. Then she nods in understanding. That’s enough.
“For now,” I say, “we move forward together.”
“For now,” she repeats.
The fire burns low between us. Outside, the world continues moving, shifting toward whatever comes next.