Page 255 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow
“Ilikepeanut butter,” she admonished, and there it was. Annoyance creeping into her tone.
Axel hummed, propping his head back on his hand so he could hide his smirk behind his thumb. “Is it your favorite food?”
“You have an obsession with food,” she muttered, tentatively reaching for a carrot stick.
“If you mean I have an obsession with making sure a person who is spending hours a day training with their magic element iseating enough to properly refuel their power reserves, then yes, I have an obsession with that,” he retorted.
Katya paused, the carrot halfway to her mouth. “That makes sense.”
“I’m a sensible person,” he said with a wink.
She hummed something that was almost a laugh, but then she took a bite of the carrot instead.
“All this food and you choose carrots,” Axel said, reaching for a small plate of raw fish wrapped in rice. He held it out to her. “Eat something with protein.”
She stared at it a moment before dragging incredulous eyes back to him. “Is this what you were talking about at the Emerging Ceremony?”
“Yep,” he answered, swiping up a roll and popping it in his mouth.
Katya shook her head, the disgust clear on her face. “Eggs have protein,” she said, reaching for one of the already peeled hard-boiled eggs on the tray.
“You’re not even going to try it?” he pressed once he’d swallowed his bite.
“I’ll stick with my peanut butter, thanks,” she volleyed back.
“Someday I’m going to get you to try it, kitten,” he sighed, reaching for another roll.
“Only if you order me to,” she scoffed.
Instead of snatching up the roll, Axel leaned over, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Startled eyes peered up at him from beneath thick lashes. “I’m never going toforceyou to try it.”
Their eyes held for a long moment before she whispered, “Okay.”
Axel released her chin, grabbing another roll off the plate before he placed it back on the coffee table. Katya finished her egg, then went back to her carrots.
“Classical music, huh?” Axel finally said to break the awkward silence that had settled between them.
“You don’t like it?”
Axel shrugged. “It’s fine enough, I suppose.”
“It was always played in the libraries and archives back home. Or what was… The Falein Kingdom,” she finally finished.
“In the libraries? I thought those were supposed to be all quiet and shit.”
“The music drowned out the sounds of the ‘other shit’ happening, so it is comforting in its own way,” she said shortly, reaching for another carrot.
Axel was quiet for a long moment before he said, “The classical music is lovely, Kat.”
She nodded, and they sat in silence a little longer before Katya said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“So you will not make me… I mean, I’m not resisting. If you told me to, I would, and I would be fine with it. And I know what is expected of me, and I’m just trying to make sense of it all because?—”
“Katya.”
It was just her name, but it silenced her fumbling of words, and she met his gaze, worrying her bottom lip.