A child—maybe five or six years old—came barreling through the picnic area at full speed. His arms windmilled wildly as he ran.

The child wasn’t watching where he was going.

He wasn’t watching at all.

Then, Neville saw the disaster coming a split second before it happened.

The kid’s foot caught on an uneven seam in the floor, and he went down hard. He skidded across the ground before tumbling to a stop right next to their table.

For one frozen moment, the child just lay there, stunned.

Then he started crying.

It wasn’t a simple cry. It was the full-body, earth-shattering wail of a child who had experienced the worst injustice of his short life. Fat tears streamed down his face, mixing with snot and drool as he screamed at a volume that made Neville’s ears ring.

Grayson was already on his feet before Neville could react. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Hey," Grayson said as he crouched down to the child’s level. His voice was surprisingly gentle, softer than Neville had ever heard it. "Are you hurt? Did you scrape your knee?"

But the kid just cried louder.

Grayson tried again as he gently patted the child’s back. "It’s okay. It’s okay. Can you show me where it hurts?"

CRIED EVEN LOUDER.

Neville watched Grayson’s face cycle through several expressions and ended with a growing helplessness. He had never seen Grayson like this before, and it was extremely entertaining to watch.

Grayson turned to look at Neville with desperate eyes.

The silent plea was clearly written: Help me.

Neville unhesitatingly laughed at the sight of it.

He couldn’t help it. Seeing the mighty Grayson Maxwell defeated by a six-year-old’s tears was too much.

"Move over," Neville said, rising from his seat. "Your technique is third-rate. Too soft."

Grayson pursed his lips and was about to complain, but Neville was already reaching for the container of shakoy on the table. He selected the prettiest one, with the most even coating of sugar, and carried it over to where the child still lay crying.

Neville crouched down, holding the donut at the kid’s eye level. The sweet, sugary scent drifted through the air.

The crying didn’t stop immediately, but it began to slow down. But the child’s red-rimmed eyes fixed on the shakoy, tracking the golden-brown treat intensely.

The wails became sobs, then to sniffles, then to tiny hiccupping breaths.

"You want this?" Neville asked gently.

The child nodded, reaching out with grabby hands.

Neville handed over the donut.

The kid took it with both hands and immediately shoved it toward his mouth. Though calling what followed a "bite" would be generous. It was more of a sloppy nibble.

His teeth barely scrape the sugared surface. The action stopped the lingering sniffles and the occasional wet sniffle-snort of leftover tears.

But he was eating, and he stopped crying.

"There we go," Neville said soothingly. "Not so bad, right?"

The kid nodded again, cheeks bulging with a donut.

"Xiao Ming! XIAO MING!"

A frantic woman, looking like she was in her forties, came rushing through the crowd, her face pale with worry. She spotted the child on the ground and nearly collapsed with relief.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She scooped up the boy, checking him over for injuries while simultaneously clutching him to her chest. "Auntie told you not to run off! What were you thinking?!"

The child, mouth still full of shakoy, offered no response and garbled noises.

The woman finally noticed Neville and Grayson standing nearby. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene of the half-eaten donut in her nephew’s hands, the concerned expressions on the two strangers’ faces.

"Oh! Did you—I’m so sorry for the trouble! Please, let me pay for the—"

"It’s fine," Neville said, shaking his head.

"It’s no trouble," Grayson added with his formal, cold tone.

Neville looked at Grayson’s quick change of expression in confusion.

But he didn’t look for long and turned to the woman and said, "We’re just glad he’s alright."

The woman thanked them profusely, bowing several times as she carried the still-sniffling child away. Xiao Ming waved the donut at them over her shoulder, which Neville chose to interpret as a goodbye.

They settled back onto their seats, sharing a look that needed no words.

Then, simultaneously started to laugh.

It wasn’t loud laughter, but Grayson’s eyes crinkled at the corners behind his glasses, with a soft smile playing on his lips.

Dangerous, Neville warned himself as he reached for another kabak with a red face. This is getting dangerous.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

Across the picnic area, hidden in the crowd near a decorative pillar, two figures watched the entire exchange.

Lilianna’s jaw was clenched so tight her teeth ached. She had seen everything, and each moment felt like a knife twisting deeper.

The plan was simple. Separate them. Create distance. Ruin the date and make Grayson see that what he felt for Neville was just a temporary fascination.

But watching them sit there, sharing food and smiles, Lilianna realized that she had greatly underestimated the situation.

"So," Chronos drawled, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed with a deadpan expression. "What’s the next plan?"

Lilianna didn’t answer immediately. Her mind raced through options and briefly glanced at Chronos, who was waiting for her answer.

This was tough.

Anything too obvious would make Grayson suspicious. The last thing she wanted was to end up on the wrong side of the Grayson whenever he was being protective like this. She had already seen that instinct firsthand when the ticket error happened.

"We’ll see around," Lilianna finally said, her voice tight. "There’s still the whole day ahead."

Chronos pushed off the wall, falling into step beside her as they moved around the adult playground.

"You know," he said lightly, "if you just confessed to General instead of—"

"Shut up."

"I’m just saying."

Ahead of them, Neville and Grayson finished their breakfast and gathered their things, preparing to head inside the Adult Playground. Their shoulders brushed as they walked, close enough that their fingers could have touched.

They didn’t hold hands. But somehow, watching them move together, matching each other’s pace—

Lilianna’s hands clenched at her sides.

This was far from over.