She tucks her knees in, cradling them. "It's been a lot. I've been on the run for four months now. No plan. Just motion. You were right. I don't know where I'm going."
I take another drag, then hand it back. "For someone who didn't grow up in this world, you're surviving better than most."
She gives me a sideways glance, suspicious. "You saying that just to make me feel better?"
The corner of my mouth lifts. "Did it work?"
She pauses. "Yeah. It did."
"Then that's all that matters."
For a beat, we fall quiet. Wind rustles her hair. The stars press in above us. She's more than just beautiful in that moment—she's something wild, worn, and still enduring.
Then—
"I knew it," Kayden's voice slices in. "I come back and find you hosting a rooftop hippie circle."
Sage doesn't even flinch. "Jealous?" she asks, offering me the roll. I take another puff.
Kayden climbs out and sinks down, placing himself on her other side, so now she's between us. "Look at you, Colonel. Partaking in substances. What happened to military honor?"
"I haven't been on active duty in sixty years, my longest retirement. I think I'm allowed a lapse in protocol," I say, exhaling smoke with measured calm.
Sage offers Kayden the joint, but he waves it off and pulls out a flask instead. "Got my own poison," he says, reclining and stretching out with a lazy groan.
"So," he adds, glancing her way, "is weed some kind of sacred nymph ritual, or does it just hit harder now that you're all forest-wired?"
She hums, considering. "It's… more pronounced than before. My senses are sharper now. So yeah, I guess it hits different."
"Perks of being bonded to nature—get high off half a puff. Not bad," Kayden says, eyes squinting at the stars as if trying to count them.
"There are upsides and downsides to being a nymph," she says quietly. "Same as with any supernatural, I guess."
I shift slightly, elbows resting on my knees. "What kind of upsides?"
"We've already seen the plant thing. Green thumb on steroids." Kayden jumps in. "And that whole charm-aura thing, which is handy until it attracts the wrong kind of attention."
"She's also immune to our influence," I add, glancing her way. She's still watching the sky, but her body tenses for a half-second.
Kayden frowns, remembering something. "Right. That delightful immunity. Though you faked it pretty damn well that night at the club. Is acting also part of your nymph powers, or are you just that good at lying?"
She shoots him a dry look. "Acting isn't part of the package. But enhanced strength and speed are."
"You did put down those motel dirtbags like a trained soldier," he admits.
"And then there's the whole immortality bit," Sage adds, more to herself than to us. "Or at least something close. We don't age. But we can still die."
"Yeah, same deal here," Kayden says with a smirk. "Timeless, but not bulletproof. Well, not stake-in-the-heart proof, to be exact. Or head cut off. Or sun-fried. Take your pick."
I watch her for a moment. She's gone quieter, her posture smaller. "And the downsides?" I ask, voice even.
She hesitates. "We're bound to nature. Not just in power, but in connection. That comes with abilities, yes, but also… the ache."
Kayden lifts his head slightly. "The what now?"
"The ache," she repeats, voice lower. "It's like a weight. A background hum of suffering. Nature's suffering. I feel it."
He frowns. "So, like, every tree that gets cut down? Every dolphin choking on plastic? Sounds like the worst newsfeed imaginable."
