"Are you feeling better?" Nyx asked. She poured two glasses of dark red wine. As she lifted the heavy crystal bottle, she softly cleared her throat. Her breathing caught slightly, but she quickly hid the tiny sound with a faint, adoring smile.
They had just returned to the penthouse from the Imperial Archive after spending another thirty minutes in there, watching endless holographic simulations. Zen could feel a heavy weight in Zen's chest after all that.
Now in the luxurious bedroom, it felt like another world with its warm lighting and the soft, distant hum of the city filtering through the cracked window.
"I feel stronger," Zen said. He sat on the edge of the large bed. "My core is healing well."
"I know," Nyx replied, handing him a glass without a smile. As she extended her arm, the purple circuitry lines running up her wrist flickered dim for a fraction of a second, before snapping back to their usual steady glow. "You took more than just my mana last night, Zen."
