Two nights later.
11:49 p.m.
Niv was on his couch, half-reading something complicated on his laptop, when his phone buzzed.
SERA:
What do you mean they're in the walls???
He blinked.
Buzz.
SERA:
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE IN THE WALLS, NIVRIT.
He set the laptop aside, already smirking.
Typed back slowly.
NIV:
You started AoT, didn't you?
A long pause.
Then:
SERA:
You said Death Note was dark.
This is war crimes with jump scares.
I hate you.
Another pause.
SERA:
Also… Levi.
Why didn't you tell me about him?
NIV:
Because it's funnier watching you suffer in real time.
The Next Morning
9:12 a.m.
Niv opened the door expecting death.
What he got was worse.
Sera stood there in a black hoodie—two sizes too big—boots, black denim shorts, and eyeliner so sharp it belonged in a weapons cache.
Messy bun.
Glossed lips.
Eyes like she hadn't slept in 48 hours—and still looked like a Vogue cover.
She walked in without a word.
"You look like you just crawled out of a war," he said.
"Because I did."
"Breakfast?"
"Only vengeance."
She dropped her bag.
Collapsed onto the couch like royalty after a campaign.
Pulled a pillow into her lap and stared at the floor like it had wronged her.
"Niv."
"Yes?"
"If anything happens to Levi—"
"He's fictional."
"If. Anything. Happens."
She didn't finish the sentence.
Just took the iced coffee he handed her like a survivor taking morphine.
He glanced at her.
"…You look hot."
She blinked once, then smiled slowly.
"Good. I plan to seduce and emotionally scar you simultaneously."
He sat beside her.
"God help me."