The boss had yet to arrive, so that was fine since not many would bother Kael yet. But once he shows up. Things will change.
Still, he didn't trust that lack of worry. A boss was a boss, arriving or not. The moment Kael showed anything valuable, it would become a conversation. Kael hated conversations that were really negotiations with a knife behind them.
Side by side, the pair looked like they belonged together. Matching color. Matching mesh texture. Matching build. That symmetry did something to Kael's brain that felt dangerously close to pride.
He crushed it down and moved on. Leather mattered now. Not for style, for survival. He'd already learned what raw runes did to flesh. He wasn't interested in repeating it without a potion in hand.
He began working on the inner linings to protect his arms from cooking themselves when he used his fire rune.
