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 Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:22 am
The trees in Jauhar were unlike anything Zaeryn had ever seen—tall and pulsing with color, like nature had a flare for the dramatic. He liked that. It fit the circus well. The glow from the bioluminescent canopy painted the performers in surreal hues, and at night, the entire troupe looked like part of the forest’s magic.
Except he wasn’t thinking about the act tonight. He was thinking about Vaena. Again.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:22 am
She watched him from across the clearing, his silhouette lit by flickering lanterns and the strange ambient glow of the forest. He laughed at something one of the fire-breathers said, and the sound made something flutter in her stomach. That was happening more often lately.
She hugged her knees to her chest, perched on a fallen log, and told herself—again—that it was probably nothing. Just proximity. Just… whatever.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:23 am
They had been friends for long enough that the newness of these feelings felt wrong. Like he’d smuggled something fragile past a border. He found excuses to walk with her, sit beside her, toss her snacks after rehearsal. Stupid things. Small, dumb offerings in place of real words. Every time she smiled at him, he felt like he was falling into a trap he didn’t mind being caught in.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:24 am
The problem was she liked the small, dumb offerings. Every time he looked her way, her thoughts scrambled.
He was loud and bold and full of drama—on stage and off—and she shouldn’t have been drawn to that. But she was. And it terrified her. Because if she said anything and he didn’t feel the same, she’d have to stay in this circus with him, pretending she hadn’t just humiliated herself.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:25 am
He caught her watching him again. It wasn’t the first time. Her gaze lingered too long, like she wanted to say something and couldn’t quite find the start.
It made his chest feel weird, like thunder before a summer storm.
So he sauntered over and dropped beside her without asking, like always. “You know, if you keep staring like that, I’m going to think you’re in love with me.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:26 am
She choked on a laugh and shoved his shoulder.
“And if you keep talking like that, I’m going to think your ego needs to be deflated.” It came out quicker than she expected, tinged with too much nervous energy. She immediately regretted it—but he was laughing again, brushing dirt off his pants like it was nothing.
She wished it was nothing.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:28 am
“Ego aside,” he said, a bit more gently, “you’ve been quiet.” That wasn’t like her. Well... it was like her, but not like this. Vaena was the kind of person who filled silences with opinions, jabs, and general attitude. Her normal quiet was serious, judgmental, not nervous or indecisive. He liked that about her. When she went quiet, he noticed.
“Everything okay?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t something worse—like a decision to leave the troupe.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:29 am
She hesitated, then nodded. “Just thinking.” Her eyes flicked toward the trees. “Jauhar makes me think of Yael. It’s different—taller and more imposing, maybe—but it’s the first place we’ve been that feels a little like home.” Her voice wavered just slightly. “And I haven’t been back in so long, I don’t know if that still counts.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:30 am
He looked at her more seriously now. “Of course it counts.” He nudged her knee with his own. “You’re still you. And you’ve brought pieces of it with you, even if you don’t realize it.” He paused. “Though, for what it’s worth… I’m glad you stayed. I’d miss you too much otherwise.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:30 am
There it was. The spark. The comment that could mean more but didn’t have to.
She could have brushed it off, made a joke, changed the subject. But instead, she met his gaze, really met it, and said softly, “I think I’d miss you too. I think I already do, when you’re not around.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:31 am
He forgot how to breathe for a second.
“Well,” he said, voice unusually quiet for him, “that makes two of us.” He fidgeted with the hem of his sleeve. “Vaena, I… I’ve been wanting to say something, but I keep chickening out. Which, let’s be honest, is embarrassing for someone as dashing and brave as me.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:32 am
She smiled, eyes wide and warm. “You’re ridiculous.” Her heart was pounding. “But I think I know what you want to say.”
Her hands twisted in her lap. “And if it’s what I’m thinking, then maybe I want to say it too. So… maybe we can say it together?” She felt like she was being ridiculous, but this was something she was new to. She had no experience sharing her feelings, and while she wanted to, she felt like a fool doing it first.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:34 am
“I like you, Vaena,” he blurted, then cringed at himself. “Like, really like you. Not just friend-like. Not just you’re-fun-to-annoy like. I mean I think about you constantly and it makes me act like an idiot and I’m tired of pretending I don’t care this much.”
Zaeryn felt like he was so out of character, bursting out his own feelings, rather than reading into others. But here he was, spreading it all bare for Vaena to do with what she wished.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:35 am
Her eyes went round, then softened. “You’re such a mess,” she teased softly, laughing, and he laughed too because she wasn’t wrong.
“I like you, Zaeryn. I’ve been terrified to say it because I didn’t want to ruin what we already had. But I think… I want to find out what more looks like.”
She felt the heat coming up to her cheeks. She didn't know what would happen from here, but she felt so vulnerable and unprotected.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 7:36 am
He grabbed her hands, lacing his fingers with hers like it was the most natural thing in the world. “We don’t have to rush anything. We’re circus folk, not scholars—we’ll stumble through it, probably get it all wrong at first, but… we’ll be trying. Together.”
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