there’s so much more content for the fandoms I’m in plus everyone’s genuinely so much nicer and understanding and less toxic. (cough Pinterest cough).

ALSO THE ARTISTS. I finally found the original accounts of a lot of my favorite artists and I genuinely get to see and support them and their art instead of seeing it in uncredited or stolen reposts.

I FOUND IT

I FOUND THE REFRENCE

Mini was helping sort out a dispute between two yaksha clans. Brynne had been summoned by a council of apsaras. The twins had disappeared into the sort of prophecy business that always sounded suspiciously made up until it turned out to be real.

Even Aru, who had once considered "avoiding responsibility" a competitive sport, was busy.

Naturally, this left him.

And, unfortunately, Rudy.

And the last thing anyone wanted to do, was go anywhere with Rudy.

"It'll be easy," Aru said.

Aiden had known her long enough to recognize those four words as an omen.

They stood outside the Hall of the Gods while the afternoon sun turned the marble steps honey-gold.

The Museum of Indian Culture and Art had become quieter since the war. Not empty-never empty-but quieter in the way a house becomes quiet after guests leave. The laughter still lingered in the walls, yet there were spaces where noise used to be.

"Easy," Aiden repeated.

"Very easy."

"You said that before the battle with the Sleeper."

Aru winced. "Okay, fair."

Rudy draped an arm over Aiden's shoulders.

"Look on the bright side, cuz. We rarely get quality bonding time."

Aiden removed the arm.

Rudy immediately put it back.

"We spend plenty of time together," Aiden protested.

"Most of that time involves you telling me to stop talking."

"Because you should."

Mini pressed her lips together, clearly fighting a smile.

Rudy looked dramatically wounded, as if Aiden told him Bollywood music was overrated.

"I can't believe this is how you treat family."

"I can."

"See?" Rudy said, turning to the others. "This is what I endure."

"You're making it sound like a tragedy," Brynne said, rolling her eyes.

"It is a tragedy."

Aiden considered leaving without him, heck, he had begged when he found out that Rudy had to come with him. Unfortunately, the mission required two people.

The disturbance turned out to be located along an old trade route that connected several minor realms. Nothing dangerous had been reported—only strange fluctuations in the magic woven through the pathway. Enough to investigate. Not enough to justify sending the entire Pandava team.

Which was why Aiden found himself walking through a forest older than some kingdoms while Rudy narrated every thought that entered his head.

The forest seemed stitched together from shadow and sunlight. Ancient trees rose around them, their branches intertwining overhead like clasped fingers. Gold light slipped through the leaves in scattered pieces, painting the path with shifting patterns.

Rudy, meanwhile, was discussing snacks.

"...and I'm just saying that if laddus are round because they're perfect, then jalebis prove perfection can also be chaotic."

Aiden stared ahead.

"Are you listening?"

"No."

"You're impossible."

"You have been talking for three hours."

"Conversation is healthy."

"This isn't a conversation."

"It could be if you participated," Rudy grumbled.

Aiden made the mistake of glancing over.

Rudy grinned.

It was infuriating.

Not because of the grin itself, but because it carried the unshakable confidence of someone who expected the world to grin back.

Most people eventually learned caution. The war had certainly taught it to the rest of them. But somehow Rudy remained stubbornly optimistic, as if cynicism were a language he had never bothered to learn.

Aiden couldn't decide whether he admired that or found it exhausting.

Probably both.

The realization annoyed him.

The path narrowed as they approached the source of the disturbance.

Almost immediately, the atmosphere changed.

The birds had fallen silent.

Even the wind seemed hesitant.

Aiden slowed.

Rudy-being Rudy-refused to noticed.

"...So then I asked if there really is more water than land, because technically, there's more land under the water, and for some reason my tutor gets mad at me-"

"Rudy shut up, do you hear that?"

"No?"

Aiden immediately took his hands out of the green pockets of his hoodie and carefully slid his scimitar out of the cuffs of his sleeve.

Magic usually announced itself. It shimmered in the air or prickled across the skin.

This felt different.

Like walking into a room moments after an argument had ended. The evidence remained even though the event itself was gone.

Aiden crouched beside a cluster of roots. Thin fractures threaded through the earth.

Not physical cracks.

Magical ones.

The kind left behind when enchantments were strained beyond their limits.

Before he could examine them further, the ground lurched.

The movement was so sudden that his mind struggled to understand it.

One moment he was kneeling.

The next, the earth split apart with a sound like tearing cloth.

Aiden threw himself backward.

Rudy wasn't as lucky.

The edge beneath him collapsed.

For an instant their eyes met.

Then Rudy vanished.

"Aiden!"

The cry echoed upward.

Aiden scrambled to the edge.

The drop was deeper than it had any right to be.

Far below, Rudy clung to a narrow ledge jutting from the wall of the chasm. Loose stones rattled into the darkness beneath him.

His fingers were slipping.

The sight hit Aiden with startling force.

Not because Rudy was in danger.

Danger was familiar.

All of them had faced it often enough.

No, what unsettled him was the sudden realization that he had never imagined Rudy absent from his life.

The thought had simply never occurred to him.Rudy was annoying in the same way gravity was annoying. Constant. Inescapable. A fact of existence. You didn't contemplate a world without gravity until you felt the ground disappear beneath your feet.

"Aiden," Rudy called, and there was no joke in his voice now.

Only fear.

Real fear.

Prince Rudra of Naga-Loka, was actually scared.

The kind that stripped away performance and left the truth standing alone.

Aiden's stomach tightened into knots. He didn't even bother considering what his mother would do to him if Rudy didn't return. His own guilt would've been enough.

"I'm coming!" Worry laced through the edges of his voice, and for once, he didn't care.

The climb down was difficult, but not impossible.

The rescue itself took less time than the fear preceding it.Aiden reached the ledge, secured a rope (packed by Mini 'for emergencies!') , and hauled Rudy toward safer ground.

By the time they pulled themselves onto solid earth, both were exhausted.

For several moments neither of them spoke.

The forest seemed strangely loud after the silence of the chasm. Leaves rustled overhead. Somewhere in the distance, a bird resumed its song. Life continued around them as though nothing had happened-or as if nothing cares.

Rudy sat with his elbows on his knees, his breath coming fast and shallow.

"You know," he said eventually, "I was pretty sure I was going to die."

Aiden looked over sharply.

Rudy laughed, but it sounded thinner than usual.

"I'm serious."

The admission lingered between them.

Aiden wasn't accustomed to seeing uncertainty on Rudy's face.

It felt as unnatural as winter sunlight.

"I wouldn't have let that happen."

The words escaped before he could stop them.

Rudy blinked. For the first time all day, he seemed genuinely surprised.

Aiden immediately regretted speaking.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

A slow smile spread across Rudy's face.

"You were worried."

"No."

"You absolutely were."

Aiden stood abruptly.

"We should finish the mission."

"You were worried," he teased.

"A little."

The smile widened.

"There he is."

Aiden rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop the small smile that spread on his face.

As they resumed walking, the familiar chatter no longer felt quite so irritating. Perhaps because he had come closer than he liked to losing it. Or perhaps because some truths became easier to acknowledge once they had nearly been taken away.

Ahead of them, Rudy launched into another story.

Aiden only caught half of it. But this time, he listened.