The woman laughed genuinely this time, and the sound of her laugh relaxed something in him despite every warning still quietly moving beneath his thoughts:
"I should've been paying attention too," Phei admitted before extending his hand. "I'm—"
Eleanor placed hers inside it before he could finish: "Phei Ryujin Tiamat."
His smile paused.
"I know you." Her hand remained within his, and Phei did not immediately let go either. "And most importantly we've met before, after all." she explained.
That finally made him search her face properly, and while his memory worked to search her from anywhere, Eleanor found herself committing the profoundly stupid mistake of concentrating on their joined hands:
His palm was warm, his grip easy and the sensation far too familiar for something supposedly new. Her dreams had always exaggerated touch until she woke half-convinced there should be evidence of things that never happened, yet the real Phei felt frighteningly close to those memories.
