pasta salad

The Grand Hub was alive that night—lanterns swinging from carved poles, the air thick with grilled meat, laughter, and music that mingled with the chattering of excited felynes. Hunters from every region had gathered to celebrate a festival—one of many—but tucked between the cheers and ale lay a quiet, uneasy tension.

Riders weren’t common here.

You knew that.

You’d felt the stares since stepping off M/N’s saddle. Your M/S let out a low rumble—protective, uneasy—and you gently pressed a hand to their scaled neck.

“Easy,” you whispered. “We’re only here to see her.”

Olivia.

Your chest tightened at the thought. It had been years since she’d ended it—her eyes cold but voice trembling when she said it was “for your own good.” You hadn’t believed her then. Maybe you still didn’t. But tonight, the Hub was open to all, Riders included, and if fate had opened that door, you were ready to step through it.

The crowd parted near the arena’s edge, and there she was — standing straight-backed in her familiar armor, silver hair catching the torchlight, a commander among chaos. Olivia looked the same and yet… older, steadier. When her gaze found yours, something unreadable flickered in her eyes.

“(Y/N),” she breathed, a quiet exhale swallowed by the music. Her eyes, you could get lost in them, but they held confusion at your appearance.

You opened your mouth to respond, but a drunken Hunter’s voice cut in.

“Oi! Rider! Keep your beast away from here!”

Apparently, M/N—whom you had left close to the outskirts and away from the festivities—had wandered closer to stay near you, drawing the attention from many of the people here. And many of those people were Hunters. Soon, a crowd began to form, tearing Olivia's gaze away from you.

You turned, keeping your tone even. “They’re not hurting anyone.”

It was true. Despite all the tension, your M/S stayed calm, only ever growing slightly defensive when someone took a step closer.

The man sneered. “That thing’s a monster. You should know better than to bring it here.”

M/N growled, barring their teeth—a warning. The man drew his weapon halfway before you could stop him, and that was all it took.

Chaos bloomed like wildfire.

Blades flashed. Voices shouted. Your monstie began to screech and thrash as if ready to fight, which is the last thing you wanted here. You managed to shove M/N toward the clearing's edge before pain blossomed across your shoulder—a hunter’s blade grazing deep.

“Enough!” Olivia’s voice rang like thunder. And it was the last thing you heard before you blacked out...

When you finally blinked your eyes open, you were sitting against a chair in the quieter tents of the Hub, the scent of herbs and iron thick in the air. Olivia knelt beside you, her gauntlets discarded, her hands trembling as they pressed cloth to your wound.

“Who did this to you?” she demanded, her voice low and dangerous.

You tried to smile, but it came out shaky. “Just… a misunderstanding.”

“Don’t,” she hissed, eyes blazing. “Don’t defend them.” Her hands stilled, and when she finally looked up, all that anger melted into something softer—something you remembered too well. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

You swallowed. “I had to. I wanted to see if you still—”

“Don’t,” she said again, but this time her voice cracked. “You know why I ended it.”

“I know what you said,” you murmured. “But it wasn’t to protect me, was it? You were afraid of what they’d think. Afraid of losing your rank. Afraid of—”

“Of losing you!”

Her outburst hung heavy in the air. Olivia’s breath shuddered. “I thought if I let you go, you’d be safe. That you’d stay in your world where people understood you.”

You reached up, brushing her cheek with bloodstained fingers. “You saved me when I thought I was past saving, Olivia. You always did.”

Her eyes softened, glistening in the torchlight. “You’re impossible,” she whispered, and she rubbed her face with her hand, but there was a slight rare smile. “Always walking into danger, always making me feel again.”

You smiled faintly, exhaustion tugging at you. “Then maybe stop letting me go.”

Silence stretched between you, filled only by the hum of distant music and M/N’s low, concerned growl from nearby. Olivia’s thumb brushed your jaw, tender in a way that made time collapse.

When she finally spoke, it was barely above a whisper. “Stay with me tonight. Please.”