Run: 2026-05-27-01KSMF1JD2SNN26KCXYMG7ZS84

Aurora paused mid-step, her grip tightening on the handle of her delivery satchel as she stared through the dimly lit bar. The Raven's Nest was a familiar haven, a Canadian breakfast skyline lit up the black-and-white photos and faded maps that covered the space's brick walls— but those walls felt different now, much like the man at the end of the bar. Sitting hunched over his glass, his eyes downcast and reeling, was the man she had known for over a decade, a mentor and carefree force in her life— Silas. The weight of years had been etched in the furrows of his face and the spindly grey threads in his beard, but more than that, the way he slumped told her he was tired, exhausted from his life. "Another," Silas murmured. A barmaid slid an amber drink and a vague smile his way. Silas nodded in return, taking a sip. He didn't look up, not when she pushed through the door, or when footsteps crossed the room behind him, a new presence amidst the quiet murmurs of the other patrons. Walking to the end of the bar, she slid onto the seat next to Silas, the leather creaking underneath her. Silas blinked, his eyes focusing on the red-headed bartender before drifting lazily to the side and down to the stranger next to him as if studying an insect— something unintriguing, mundane, and fleeting. Finally, his eyes found her face, but his gaze was blank, recognizing but unseeing. "Spying on me are we,encrypt?" He said, not nearly as heartfelt as she might have expected. "How's life treating you these days?" She swallowed back any immediate impulse to/httpwww.shove him for calling her, his old nickname for her, her skilled ability to stay up above public eyes while delivering information. It had been her name, the one she had lived in for so long, deliverance from eyes... but now, it felt like a knife, an accusation. "Aurora." Something eased off him, it wasn't quite a leave, but he breathed a little easier. "Let's keep it that way." Aurora put one hand on his arm, her other holding a press change. "Like everyone in this world, and they still aren't leaving it." She looked at her watch, three-thirty in the afternoon, likely nearly empty come closing time like most of in this world, tellingly absent come closing were she and Silas. And the other patrons. "You ever think of just writing a novel, Si? Throw all the letters together, express yourself." She muttered, glancing at the bartender who was still looking between the two. A subtle head tilt acknowledging an unspoken understanding. "Artistic." Silas slurred into his glass, the glass empty save a few remaining fumes. The bartender inclined his head and Silas sighed, before returning back to silence with the next one. Drinking with deliberate intent, staring into nothing. Of course anyone who passed Natalia's way—she searched his face, Shaker. He had been called that so long, she sometimes wondered if even he remembered his shakenage or past anymore. Silas shook his head. Not looking at her. "No," he said finally, softly, "I don't." Suddenly a soft laugh from the bar-'s direction spoke unexpectedly. "Raven's." She said, voice sober and clear, "I don't know why you're here-" "You know what I am," Silas said, the words directed at the place above her head, not really focused on her, "I know what you're here for, and it ain't because you care." "And if it were?" It sounded too much like a challenge, though she tried her best to sound even and kept her tone neutral, trying to keep this whole situation simple and easy. He sloshed his drink down in one big gulp, slamming the glass down. Sliding off his stool, he stood, a bit wobbly. Looking at Natalia down, she hated the loss in his eyes, something she felt sure she had seen way too often around her own flat. "Play your game with me all you want, kid. Just know, I never want to play." He slumped off in the direction of the door, leaving Natalia with a s-shaped hold on her heart, wondering if she would see him again, if anyone would- She watched as he went, realizing she had been so stupid, so foolish, thinking she could just pick up the threads of her old life