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Awaiting You (Chapter 4)

The two walked out of the Golden Theater, an awkward silence descending between the two. It wasn't like them to be so quiet, the nature of the two was brash and loud, and the silence felt out of place.

Seele's gaze would drift over Caelus for a moment, and Caelus would do the same, neither of them made a sound, simply standing in front of the steps that led to the theater in silence.

Seele put her pride aside and spoke up first, her voice strangely filled with an unfamiliar nervousness.

"Where do you want to go next?"

She'd ask, in which Caelus would fidget around for a moment, fumbling over his own words as he spat out a response.

"W- Why don't we just look around for now? I didn't get the opportunity to explore much during my time here before, maybe you could show me a few places?"

He'd say, he sounded unconfident and looked like he'd explode at any moment.

Seele would sigh, chuckling at his demeanor before smiling and beginning to walk back towards the Central Plaza.

"Sure."

Was all she said as she would walk just a little closer to him this time, their hands occasionally brushing up against each other, both would blush, but neither would comment on it.

The two chatted for a while as they simply walked around, catching up with one another, Seele talking about her newfound interests and duties, while Caelus spoke of the trailblaze expeditions he'd embarked on ever since he left Belobog.

"-Yeah! This big tree sprouted, and we had to fight this deer."

Caelus would ramble about his adventures on the Xianzhou, though he made it sound much less complicated than it truly was.

Seele would nod, listening intently to him, but her mind drifted elsewhere as she found herself distracted, she found herself immersed in his eyes as he spoke, such emotion surging through them as he spoke.

She smiled, her lips curving upwards as she simply soaked in his presence. She loved listening to him talk, he could blab on and on and she wouldn't mind, but she noticed his rambling slow to a halt as he simply stared back at her.

Though she had been caught, she didn't even bother to stop, her eyes still glued to his own.

"You okay?"

Caelus would ask, a nervous smile forming on his face as he was unsure exactly why Seele was looking at him so intently.

Seele would snap out of it, her eyes widening as she quickly looked in the opposite direction, her face a gleaming red.

"Ah, sorry. I got distracted."

She'd say, not helping her case much.

Caelus would just chuckle, seemingly unbothered by it.

"Don't worry about it, I got distracted towards the end too."

He'd admit, and silence would drape over the two once more, but the silence was filled with a longing neither of them could quite identify yet, Caelus felt a strange joy surge through him when Seele admitted she got distracted, which was something unlike him. He'd been asked about relationships before, but he had always chosen to deny such affection.

When his gaze slowly drifted back towards Seele, who was still looking away from him, but she wouldn't move away from him, in fact, she seemed to have gotten closer.

Caelus had the sudden realization, that he had always disliked being physically close to others, but he didn't mind being so close to Seele like this, in public, walking beside one another. Caelus had always noticed her before, he admired her for her combat skills and goals, and he even noticed this before they went to the Golden Theater, but now he realized.