"You are distracted, Grace." Davian’s strict, and almost accusing, voice pulled Grace out of the depths of her thoughts. Her gaze focused on the man at the very moment he kicked at her feet, taking her down on the mat and capturing her there within seconds.
Everything happened so quickly that she barely got enough time to register the attack. Before she knew it, she was on her back on the mat while Davian had her pinned there. She tried to push him off her, but he captured her hands and pressed them against the mat.
Their position suddenly became way too intimate as he was almost straddling her and his face was inches above hers. Realizing this, she quickly reminded him, "The others are looking Davian."
In response, she noticed him shaking his head before he replied, "There’s no one here other than the two of us." And then, he pulled away, leaving her stunned.
Grace immediately moved to a sitting position while her gaze darted around the living room, finally noticing the absence of others. She was so distracted that she didn’t even notice that the two of them were alone and their teams had long left. Even those who lived in Unit 2201, where the current practice was taking place, were not in the apartment.
"What’s bothering you?" Davian asked as he offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. The two of them moved toward the kitchen to grab some water while Grace tried to collect her thoughts to answer his question.
Neither of them spoke as Davian grabbed a water bottle and poured her a glass of water before offering it to her. She thanked him and emptied the content in one go, quenching her thirst after the hours long training session.
Though Davian didn’t press her to answer his question, she knew that he was waiting for her to speak. She let out a deep sigh before pulling a certain paper out of her space. She didn’t try to hide it from him as the paper appeared in her hand out of the blue, and while he was clearly surprised, he said nothing and just waited patiently.
"Look at this." She said while handing him the paper.
Davian accepted it and took a look, his eyebrows arching as he clearly recognized the sketches that were drawn on the paper. He shifted his gaze to her and asked, "Why are you drawing them?"
Grace shook her head before replying, "It’s not me who drew them, but Rune."
"Rune?" Davian asked, his eyes turning sharp at the mention of an unknown name and that too of a man.
"My neighbor, the one in Unit 2103." She explained, trying her best to not let him wonder too much about her relation with Rune. It’s not like she wanted to hide anything, she just didn’t know how to handle Davian once he would learn the truth. Most importantly, even she wasn’t too sure about what kind of relation she had with Rune. Though they slept together once, it hadn’t changed much between them... or at least that’s what she believed.
"I didn’t know you are on talking terms with that kid." Davian said as he returned his gaze back to the paper in his hand. All of a sudden, it became hard to guess exactly what he was thinking.
Ignoring his statement, she spoke, "I talked to him few days ago and he ended up telling me a lot of things. He also drew this sketch."
"Is he a reborner as well?" Davian asked, his curiosity increasing about the only resident on the top three floors who wasn’t a part of either of their teams.
Grace shook her head, dismissing the theory. "He’s not. But his story is just as crazy as ours. He said that he is from a different place - like a different world - and he has been battling with these monsters for nearly his entire life. His job was to keep these monsters from entering our world."
It was hard to tell whether Davian was surprised or not, whether he believed this story or not. He remained silent for a while with an unreadable expression on his face before finally speaking, "These monsters does look exactly like the ones that attacked Earth in the previous timeline. But if he’s from a different world, what is he even doing here?"
Grace let out a small sigh before answering, "He came to our world for some reason, but he can no longer return to his place. He said that the the rain and following disasters have disturbed the portal that could have led him back. That portal is gone now. For now, he has no way to return to his world."
Once again, Davian was silent as he analyzed what she just said. A few moments later, he asked in a serious tone, "Do you trust him?"
Slowly, Grace nodded her head. "I have used my own way to verify his story... and it seems like he’s telling the truth. I trust him... about 99.99%."
"Why not 100%?" He asked curiously as he stared right into her eyes, urging her to tell the truth.
She inhaled deeply before confessing honestly. "Despite everything, I can’t deny the fact that I have known him for barely a month. Trusting him completely this quickly sounds like a stupid idea to me."
She finally saw a smile making its way to his lips and he gave her a nod of approval. "What are you planning to do about him?"
"I’m adding him to my team." She dropped the bomb only to find him nodding his head once again. Surprised, she asked, "Are you not against it?"
"Why should I?" Davian asked in response. "I trust the judgement of the current you. You are nothing like your past self. If you think he’s worth being a part of our team, then I’m going to trust and respect your decision."