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The woods had that soft, in-between kind of quiet where the sun hasn’t fully given up but the dark’s already creeping in. Hestia moved slowly through it, careful, like she didn’t want to disturb whatever peace was left. The cold brushed against her coat but didn’t seem to bite — it just rolled off, like even the air had decided to be gentle with her tonight.

She spotted him before he saw her, a lone figure standing out there with his head tipped up to the sky. The way he was staring at the stars made her pause. There was something lost about it — not desperate or anything, just tired, like he’d been trying to make sense of things that didn’t want to be made sense of.

Looking for something? she said finally, voice calm and a little amused, the way someone speaks who’s seen this sort of thing a million times before. She came closer, slow enough not to spook him, her eyes soft in the fading light. I don't think, whatever you seek, is up there though.

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