[center][url=https://open.spotify.com/track/5gWtkdgdyt5bZt9i6n3Kqd?si=37957e6e11974ccb][img]https://i.postimg.cc/05m61xNT/Elena-Castellano-removebg-preview-1.png[/img][/url][/center][right][sub]Interactions: Loni ([@FernStone]), Elijah ([@Theyra])[/sub][/right][hr]

[indent]Elena let out a chuckle at Elijah’s remark about needing to find a different bakery, shaking her head. “[color=#f9c2bf]Yeah, I think they’ll be changing their ‘special of the week’ to ‘closed until further notice’ after today.[/color]” The bakery’s destruction, the terror in the owner’s eyes—it all felt like yet another piece in Cloverfield’s ever-growing puzzle of chaos. And if Elijah was right about this not being a random attack? Then that puzzle just got a whole lot bigger.

But she set the thought aside as he spoke about his spear, about his past as something other than a fighter. The shift in his voice didn’t go unnoticed—the tinge of something he wasn’t quite willing to lay out for them. She understood that. People didn’t just spill their ghosts to near-strangers, not unless they were looking to drown in them.

“[color=#f9c2bf]A scholar first, huh?[/color]” she mused, tilting her head. “[color=#f9c2bf]Then you and I probably have more in common than I thought.[/color]”

There was no pity in her voice, only the quiet recognition of someone who understood the way fate had a habit of rearranging lives. She knew what it was to be thrust into something she never asked for. Maybe Elijah hadn’t envisioned himself gripping that spear any more than she had planned on kindling in the middle of the Cataclysm. Yet here they stood, both forged by the fire of what they had been given, rather than what they had chosen.

At Loni’s unfiltered enthusiasm toward her magic, Elena felt the ever-present tension in her shoulders ease—just a fraction, but enough. She wasn’t used to that reaction. Her magic was quiet. It wasn’t the kind of power that shattered walls or turned the tide of a battle. It was something else entirely, something overlooked—until, suddenly, it wasn’t. And yet, Loni’s interest wasn’t laced with the usual wariness or vague dismissal. It was real. Genuine. The kind of thing that made her lips curl into something dangerously close to an actual smile.

“[color=#f9c2bf]Yeah, memories aren’t exactly easy to work with, but they’ve got a funny way of sticking around.[/color]”

She nodded at Loni’s offer, something unreadable flickering across her expression for a split second. “[color=#f9c2bf]I haven’t really met many Adepts outside of my mom,[/color]” she admitted. “[color=#f9c2bf]Mostly just people coming into the shop, looking for something to help them sleep or to stop them from remembering things they don’t want to.[/color]”

She glanced toward Elijah briefly before returning her gaze to Loni. “[color=#f9c2bf]I’ll think about stopping by,[/color]” she said, voice easy, but not quite committing. “[color=#f9c2bf]Sounds like you’ve got an interesting group.[/color]”

Then, at Loni’s teasing about her tea, Elena let out a scoff of pure mock indignation, one hand pressing dramatically to her chest as though personally wounded.

“[color=#f9c2bf]Please,[/color]” she deadpanned, “[color=#f9c2bf]do I look like someone who’d allow some sad, lifeless, bagged excuse for tea anywhere near my work? I have standards, Rodriguez. Loose-leaf only.[/color]”

A beat passed, and then her expression softened as she nodded. “[color=#f9c2bf]But yeah, I’d be happy to make you some. Non-magical, of course. We’ll call it a ‘thanks for not dying’ tea.[/color]”

Finally, she turned back to Elijah as he made his move to leave.

“[color=#f9c2bf]It was good meeting you too,[/color]” she said. “[color=#f9c2bf]And hey, if you ever feel like putting that scholar side to use, let me know. Something tells me there’s more to this whole thing than we’re seeing.[/color]”

She didn’t try to stop him—his intent to leave was clear enough. But she left the door ajar, just in case.[/indent]