[h3][color=c2b280]Levi Orienko[/color][/h3][hr][justify][indent][indent]Bahram’s energy washed over Levi again — bright, loud, warm in the way fire was warm when you got too close, that slight burn on your face as the flames lick at you.

[quote]“Cool! Fireworks are banned, but we can eat—what foods do you like? I’ll treat!”[/quote]
Levi froze, suddenly the warmth had turned to ice. Food. Not rations or gruel, Not the thin grey paste he had swallowed because it kept him upright. Actual food — the kind people had opinions about, fought about. He blinked once, slowly. The ground felt suddenly very interesting.

[color=c2b280]“I… don’t really know,”[/color] he admitted under his breath. A tiny pause, almost guilty. He shifted his pack, not out of discomfort with Bahram — but with the question itself. [color=c2b280]“You can pick,”[/color] Levi added, softer. [color=c2b280]“It’d be better if you did.”[/color]

Bahram barreled forward into politics next — uprisings, monarchists, alliances, a handful of acronyms Levi had never seen written anywhere. The words poured out of him with practiced familiarity. Levi listened because he listened to everything. But the meaning went right past him. He frowned a little, eyes narrowing in that quiet, confused way he had.  [color=c2b280]“I… have no idea what any of that means,”[/color] he said honestly. No shame. Just a small shake of his head.[color=c2b280] “Sorry,”[/color] he let out a small breath. He didn’t pretend to belong to a world he had never been taught.

Movement to his side brushed the edge of his awareness. Lukas was still there — calm, watching, part of the same circle of noise — but Levi didn’t split himself trying to manage two conversations. He just kept his body open enough that he wasn’t excluding anyone. It was the best he knew how to do.“We should go in soon,” Levi said quietly, eyes flicking toward the hall doors. He didn’t move first. He waited — for Bahram’s lead, or for the moment to feel right. That was enough.
[/indent][/indent][/justify]
[@LladyLloki][@Letter Bee]