Alaric and Armand were cracking up now, the story landing perfectly. Laila grinned wide, glancing toward where Athena sat unbothered across the way, not even pretending to care about the retelling. "God, Athena was a badass. Still is though with that smirk playing on her face right now."
Felicia stayed quiet on the edge of the group, fiddling with her sleeve and avoiding eye contact, the awkwardness from Athena's past clapback still sitting heavy on her.
Levi finally cracked a reluctant smile, nudging Leo with his foot under the table. "Yeah, yeah. It was wild. But don't act like you weren't dying laughing the whole time."
Leo winked at him. "Guilty. Point is, Adrianna knows exactly what Athena's capable of. No wonder she's playing games instead of running over here like a lost puppy."
The group chuckled, the vibe light and buzzing with shared nostalgia. Eryx just sighed, though his eyes flicked toward Athena with that familiar heat. He tapped on the empty seat beside him.
