Velka turned crimson. "Please don't ever say that out loud again."
I pressed my lips together, fighting the desperate urge to laugh. The blush staining Velka's porcelain cheeks deepened even further, and she averted her gaze, as though meeting my eyes might cause spontaneous combustion. At this rate, it seemed a distinct possibility.
"Noted," I finally managed, my voice carefully neutral. "But seriously what else do you remember?"
She hesitated, clearly wrestling with how much she should reveal. Her fingers nervously tapped the edge of the ancient mahogany desk beside us, rhythmic and anxious. The silence stretched, until she finally sighed, her shoulders sagging just a little in reluctant defeat.
"In the dreams," she began quietly, choosing each word with careful precision, "we were older. Closer. Fighting together, side by side, as though we'd done it a thousand times before."
