Chapter 55: Fumbling words

Chapter 55: Fumbling wordsElias stood there for a moment, shifting awkwardly in place. He glanced at Elara, then at the suit, then back at her again. "Aren’t you gonna turn around or wait for me outside?"

Elara blinked, caught off guard, as a faint tint of pink crossed her cheeks. "Oh—uh..." She coughed lightly, rubbing the back of her neck before giving a forced casual shrug. "Yeah, of course! I’ll just... yeah, I’ll wait outside."

But she didn’t move right away. For a split second, she hesitated, as if realizing something. Was she flustered? It was rare—almost unheard of—to see Elara in anything other than her usual composed state.

Elias smirked slightly as she quickly turned on her heel, striding toward the door, maybe a little too fast. Dot’s, of course, had to comment.

"Was she blushing at the comment? Why?" Dot’s asked, her voice genuinely curious.

Elias let out a small chuckle but didn’t answer. Instead, he focused on getting into the suit.

Or at least, he tried.

The upper portions weren’t too bad—just a few awkward moments of fumbling to get the chest plate aligned properly. But the lower half? That was another story.

He crashed onto the floor, his legs twisting slightly as the reverse-movement issue from earlier completely threw him off. He tried to hook the ankle portions into place, but each time he reached for one buckle, his other leg moved instead.

After nearly faceplanting twice, he sighed in frustration.

"Elara!" he called, already bracing himself for whatever snarky remark she had loaded up for him.



Sure enough, the door slid open, and Elara stepped back in, arms crossed. She took one look at him—flat on the ground, legs awkwardly sprawled—and smirked.

"Well," she said, crouching down beside him, "you certainly know how to make wearing a suit look difficult."

Elias sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You wanna help, or are you just here to roast me?"

Still smirking, she knelt down and secured the ankle locks for him, tightening the last few straps into place. Her fingers worked fast, but there was something different in her expression.

"Life must have been rough the last ten years, I assume?" Elias asked as she adjusted the final strap.

She nodded, her smirk fading slightly. "Yeah... well, it’s been tough on a lot of people, given the shit that never ends. I just hope we find some version of peace in the future. I don’t want to spend my 30s and 40s fighting aliens, after all."

Elias chuckled. "I don’t think I’d mind."

Elara let out a small laugh as she finished tightening the last portion of his suit. "Well, women like to settle down in life eventually... but that’s a selfish thought right now."

She tapped the exosuit panel and continued, "That should be good. All movement should feel natural now. When you want to increase jump height or enhance your strikes, just focus on flexing your gastrocnemius and soleus muscles."

She continued" Next for jumping or your pectorals, deltoids, and forearm extensors for striking. The suit will respond by amplifying the movement using micro-hydraulic actuators and delivering neuromuscular stimulation pulses through your myoelectric nerve pathways."



Elias had been listening—mostly. But something about the way she casually mentioned settling down had caught him completely off guard.

His eyes widened slightly—not at the instructions, but at the thought. It was a side of Elara he had never expected. A thought he never even imagined coming from her.

For the first time in a while, he wasn’t sure what to say.

Elias hesitated for a split second, not wanting to push the envelope. Instead, he simply stated, "I see."

Taking a moment, he tested small movements—rotating his wrists, adjusting his fingers—before fully flexing his wrist. "Thanks. Let’s go get those other shard users and be prepared to fight some alien bastards."

Elara stood up, brushing off her hands. "Corny as always," she remarked before turning toward the door.

Elias rubbed the back of his head. Oh well, I guess.

Before she stepped out completely, she glanced back over her shoulder. "But... that’s a bit of you I’ve always liked."

Elias blinked. The words lingered for just a second before she was gone.

For a brief moment, he just sat there, staring after her. He wasn’t sure why that comment had landed differently than anything else she had ever said to him. Maybe it was just exhaustion. Maybe it was something else entirely.

Shaking off the thought, he finally stood up, rolling his shoulders to get used to the weight of the exosuit. His movements felt more natural now, smoother with each adjustment. By the time he made his way out of the armory, Elara was already at the lift, waiting.



"You ready, or do you need a few more practice swings?" she teased as he stepped in.

"Nah, I think I got it. Let’s move."

The doors slid shut, and with a quiet hum, the lift ascended back toward the rooftop. As soon as they stepped out, the rain had let up slightly, leaving behind a thin mist across the steel platform. The ship sat waiting, engines still running from standby mode, the faint thrumming of energy pulsing beneath their feet.

Elias followed Elara up the ramp, stepping into the cabin as the doors sealed behind them.

EA few minutes later, after checking their final gear, syncing their comms, and ensuring all systems were green, the two finally boarded the ship. The cabin was already buzzing with quiet conversation as the team settled into their positions. Searᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Yui, as expected, wasted no time in commenting.

"So, what took so long? I can get an exosuit on in less than a minute or two."

Before Elara could even breathe out a response, Elias chimed in first.

"Well, it was my first time sliding into one, and I wanted to take a bit of time to make sure it was a smooth fit. It fit like a glove; nice tight and a warmth that’s hard to explain."

A pause.

A long one.

All three members of the squad stared at him.