Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Alex stood frozen, staring at Mira in stunned silence. His mind struggled to process what she had just said.

Mira meanwhile, felt her face flush madly, redder than a tomato, as she completely averted her gaze, her embarrassment obvious.

'Why did I say that out loud!? How could I be so stupid!?' She screamed and berated herself internally.

The urge to run away and never face Alex again was almost overwhelming. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing his reaction to her impulsive confession.

On Alex's side, his mind was still reeling.

'Falling in love with me?'

The weight of her words was difficult to grasp for him. He had never experienced love before.

Love had always been a distant, almost alien concept to him.

His friends in the mines often spoke of their romantic escapades and the intense feelings they had for their partners, feelings that Alex could never quite relate to.

The idea of loving someone so deeply that you would do anything for them, even die, seemed like a fairy tale.

But then, realisation dawned upon him.

That's exactly how he felt about Mira.

He'd fight with his life on the line for her sake.

'But isn't that what all friends do for each other?'

His confusion seemed like it would never end.

'Wait, is this what love feels like?' he asked himself.

The epiphany hit him hard.

He, too, was falling for Mira. He had only realised that now after being confronted with Mira's one confession.

All these realisations flashed through his mind in only a few short seconds after Mira's confession.

Alex coughed, trying to bring her attention back to him.

Mira hesitatingly turned her face towards him, but couldn't meet his eyes directly. Her face was still bright red.

'She definitely didn't mean to say that out loud.' he thought.

Ignoring the awkwardness, he grabbed Mira's shoulders gently but firmly, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

Her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and hope, and he looked into them seriously.

"I think I might be, as well," he said softly.

Mira fidgeted, trying to squirm out of his grip even harder now, but he held her steady.

'Really? Does he really feel the same!?'

Internally, she couldn't be happier.

The prospect that he felt the same way about her made her feel like she was on top of the world.

The happiness was almost too much to contain, even though she tried to mask it with her nervous movements.

An awkward silence ensued for about ten seconds. Both of them were lost in each other's eyes, lost in their own thoughts.

"I-I-"

Click!

Alex attempted to speak, but before he could finish stumbling over his words, a sharp click echoed through the air.

Both Alex and Mira turned simultaneously to look at the source of the sound.

"Don't mind me, carry on." Rowan said mischievously, adjusting the sunglasses on his face.

But the embarrassed duo could clearly see the old fashioned, 21st century camera he was hiding behind his back.

"Fine, fine! How could I not capture such a cute moment between two blossoming lovers on camera!!?" He grinned sheepishly.

Both Alex and Mira felt their cheeks redden even further when Rowan said the word 'lovers'.

Mira looked at Rowan with a strange and somewhat upset expression on her face, as if her face alone was saying 'How could this random person spoil my moment like that!!'

But Alex had a different reaction.

"Rowan?" He asked, somewhat cautious.

"That does happen to be my name." Rowan replied sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?"

Alex hadn't seen Rowan since his first time in the Primordial Expanse.

Alex had changed completely from the last time Rowan had seen him, but in Alex's eyes, Rowan didn't look like a day had passed since they last saw each other.

"Oh, just passing by, you know. But then I recognised you from a distance and came over to greet you after so long. That's when I witnessed your little confession and thought, 'What a perfect moment to capture!'"

Mira groaned, "You couldn't have picked a worse time." She said, trying but failing miserably to hide her embarrassment.

Rowan shrugged. "Come on. It's not every day I get to see such a heartfelt confession. Besides, " he added, winking, "you two look great together."

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to respond. "Thanks, I guess?"

Rowan laughed and gave Alex a thumbs up.

Mira gave Rowan a half-hearted glare. "Next time, maybe ask before you start snapping pictures."

Rowan raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll ask next time."

He then turned to Alex, a soft smile on his face. "So, aren't you going to introduce us?"

'Oh right! These two don't even know each other…'

***

A few minutes later, the duo turned trio sat down around a table.

Alex awkwardly twiddled his thumbs while Mira stared daggers into Rowan.

'They didn't know each other, but they sure act like they do…' Alex observed.

"So, where were we?"

Alex turned back to Mira, trying to ease up the tension in the air.

Mira's heart skipped a beat at his words.

She was so focused on trying to see through Rowan that she had distracted herself from the fact that she had accidentally confessed to Alex only a few minutes prior…

"I think we were talking about, um, training?"

But when it came down to it, she just couldn't bring the topic up without getting embarrassed, hence she switched it to something else.

Alex chuckled. "Right. Training. But, uh, maybe we should finish that other conversation first."

Mira nodded sheepishly, a warm feeling giving way in her chest.

"Mmm, maybe we should…"

Rowan, sensing that his presence was no longer needed, gave them a wink and a quick wave.

"I'll leave you two love birds alone. Catch you later."

Rowan walked away, but quickly turned back around.

"Oh by the way, meet me at this location after your assessments end, Alex. We have some stuff to talk about."

He handed a note with an address on it to Alex, and walked away for real this time.