A few minutes later they entered one of the larger medical supply stores near the gates.

The pharmacist barely glanced up the moment they entered, clearly used to seeing injured contractors, which made sense. Half the Sanctuary seemed perpetually wounded every day.

Ravenna marched directly toward the treatment section while Silver followed behind, any resistance within seemed like a useless thing.

Mallory followed both, entirely for entertainment.

Ravenna began collecting supplies: bandages, disinfectants, healing salves anything that looked remotely helpful.

Silver watched in confusion.

"That’s excessive."

"It isn’t."

"It definitely is."

"You should look in the mirror first."

Silver paused.

"...okay."

Ravenna continued shopping, throwing the medicines into the small cart almost aggressively now. The pharmacist watched curiously, probably assuming they were dating.

The thought nearly made Silver trip over a shelf, fortunately nobody noticed.

Five minutes later they left. With Silver carrying the bag of course. Which felt strangely familiar.

The three eventually reached a quieter section of the lower sanctuary. A small public garden hidden between several apartment complexes.

It wasn’t particularly beautiful but private. Few people visited at night.

Ravenna stopped beside a bench.

"Sit."

Silver immediately looked suspicious.

’Why am I letting her order me around?’

Still, he sat. Mostly because standing hurts.

Ravenna opened the medical supplies then froze. A realization finally arrived.

"..."

"..."

"...I don’t actually know where you’re injured."

Silver blinked.

That was true. An important detail they had all forgotten. One that perhaps should have been discussed earlier.

The maid immediately laughed.

Ravenna ignored her.

"Where?"

Silver pointed vaguely.

"Everywhere."

"Specific."

"My ribs."

"Okay."

"Shoulder."

"Okay."

"Back."

"Okay."

"Leg."

Ravenna slowly lowered the bandages.

"...What happened to you?"

Silver considered explaining what had happened to him but decided against it. There was no need to burden her with useless details. He was alive, if that counted.

"Training accident."

Ravenna stared.

"You’re a terrible liar."

The answer came too quickly. Silver looked offended.

"I can lie."

"No."

"I can."

"No. Your tone changed when you said that, even earlier when I asked how hurt you were, and it also happened when you lied at that time. I’m good at reading people. "

Mallory nodded.

"Yes, she’s right."

Silver looked betrayed. The two women had somehow allied. Still, what she said slightly made him skeptical, he had thought he had perfect control but it seems he never noticed the little slips.

A dangerous development.

Ravenna eventually knelt beside the bench.

"Take off the jacket."

Silver froze.

Mallory immediately became interested. Ravenna instantly realized what she’d said.

"...For the bandages."

"Obviously."

"Right."

Mallory’s grin widened.

Neither acknowledged it. Silver carefully removed the damaged jacket then regretted it immediately. Ravenna’s eyes widened slightly the moment she saw what was underneath.

Beneath the clothing were bruises, cuts, and several healing wounds. It was evidence of someone who had spent days fighting for his life.

The joking atmosphere faded slightly. For a brief moment, Ravenna felt guilty. The injuries looked worse than she’d imagined.

Silver noticed the expression.

"It’s honestly not that bad."

"You’re missing skin."

"Only small amounts."

"That isn’t reassuring."

The maid looked horrified.

Silver looked confused this had been his normal. Apparently, he genuinely believed that the answer helped in calming them. Since he could walk perfectly and wasn’t internally bleeding, the other injuries weren’t that big of a deal.

Ravenna opened the disinfectant. Silver immediately recognized the bottle.

"...Wait."

"No."

"I already took healing pills."

"No."

"I can buy medicine myself then."

"No."

Silver looked toward the maid, seeking support. She betrayed him instantly.

"Hold still."

’Traitors, all of them’

The disinfectant touched his shoulder. Silver hissed immediately.

Ravenna smiled, a dangerous smile.

"Oh."

"What?"

"So you can feel pain."

"Of course I can."

"The way you talk, I wasn’t sure."

Silver sighed. Somehow this entire situation felt absurd. A few days ago he’d been fighting beasts. Now he was being bullied by a woman patching him up in a public garden.

Life was strange.

Ravenna carefully applied another bandage. Her movements were slowed, more careful now. Most of the teasing seems to have disappeared.

Silver noticed she was actually really worried. The realization felt unexpectedly warm.

This wasn’t because of romance or affection. Simply because... someone had waited, noticed, and come looking. After his parents died in his previous life, those moments became increasingly rare.

He was always on military deployments, assignments, transfers, or suffering from losses. Probably why he got dumped in under a month in all his relationships.

Eventually, he stopped expecting people to wait, stopped expecting anyone to notice when he came back.

Yet here Ravenna was, scolding him and patching him up while complaining the entire time. And somehow, that felt surprisingly nice.

So nice that Silver smiled. Which was unfortunate because Ravenna noticed immediately.

"...Why are you smiling?"

Silver instantly looked away.

"No reason."

"You can’t just smile for no reason. It makes you suspicious."

"It doesn’t."

"It does."

Mallory nodded again.

"It does."

Silver sighed. There truly was no winning.

For several moments after the bandaging was finished, neither of them spoke. The atmosphere had changed a little. The teasing had faded and now awkwardness remained.

It was a more comfortable kind of awkwardness now, one that occurred when two people no longer felt like complete strangers.

Ravenna tied off the final bandage around his wrist and leaned back slightly.

"There."

Silver glanced down. The work was surprisingly neat, far better than anything he would have managed himself.

"Thanks."

The words came naturally.

Ravenna blinked then looked away.

"...You’re welcome."

A brief silence followed.

Mallory watched both of them with the expression of someone attending a comedy performance. Neither noticed or perhaps they pretended not to.

Silver looked toward the dark sky. The garden lights blinked occasionally as though surviving on their last leg. People passed occasionally along the pathways. Most ignored them but a few glanced over then continued walking.

For the first time since returning from the wasteland, Silver felt himself mentally relaxed. The constant pressure of survival had eased.

His thoughts drifted to everything that had happened to him outside the walls, then eventually to Ravenna.

His eyes moved toward her. Her unique white hair and grey eyes. A face beautiful enough that even knowing it beforehand hadn’t prepared him.

In the novel, she had always felt distant, a character. Just words on a page. Now, she sat beside him complaining about his injuries.

The difference was enormous and somehow...

Without realizing it, Silver remembered something. The reward notification, the smile, the affection increase, and the system’s reaction.

For some reason that memory made him smile again. Ravenna immediately caught it.

"You’re doing it again."

Silver blinked.

"Doing what?"

"Smiling at nothing."

"I have reasons."

"What reasons?"

Silver opened his mouth then closed it.

Explaining that a cosmic happiness system had rewarded him for her smiling sounded like a terrible idea.

Ravenna folded her arms.

"See?"

"See what?"

"You don’t have a reason."

"I do."

"You don’t."

"I do."

Mallory sighed dramatically.

"Please get married already."

Both of them froze, then immediately spoke.

"What?"

"What?"

The synchronized reaction only made things worse. Mallory started laughing.

Ravenna covered her face while Silver looked like he wanted to disappear. The embarrassment lingered for several seconds then gradually faded.

Eventually, Ravenna stood.

"I should go."

Silver nodded automatically. That made sense, it was late, almost midnight. They’d already spent longer talking than either expected. The opportunity had come and gone almost without him noticing.

Ravenna brushed some hair behind her ear.

"Try not to fall off any more cliffs."

Silver considered that.

"I’ll do my best."

"That wasn’t reassuring."

"It’s the best I could offer."

Mallory laughed again. Ravenna shook her head, then turned slightly preparing to leave.

And for some reason something in Silver resisted. It was a strange feeling, one he hadn’t expected.

He just knew deep down that if she left now, the conversation and day would end. The fragile rapport might just break and tomorrow everything might return to normal.

The thought bothered him more than it should have.

Silver frowned slightly, then realized something.

The worst outcome wasn’t rejection it was never asking.

His previous life had taught him that much. Opportunities and people disappeared, sometimes without warning.

The realization struck quickly. Without overthinking, planning, or any strategy, before he could talk himself out of it...

’Fuck it’

"Ravenna."

She turned back.

"Hm?"

Silver immediately realized he had absolutely no prepared speech.

Wonderful. A flawless plan.

Still, he pushed forward.

"If you’re free tomorrow..."

Ravenna blinked. Mallory stopped moving.

Silver suddenly became very aware of his heartbeat.

"...Would you like to go out with me?"