I shake my head at the both of them. "Boys. The most incomprehensible species on this planet."
Samuil smirks, offering me his hand. The moment I slip my fingers through his, he pulls me into the hug, too.
We're all soaking wet and chilled to the bone, but I feel warm all the same.
We stand there in a tangled embrace, the three of us, while the storm whimpers and recedes. Through my palm pressed against his chest, I feel Samuil's heart beating---strong and steady now, like it never stopped. Like it never could stop, not while he has people to come back to. People who won't let him drift away.
"Next time you feel like testing the loch's patience," I murmur against his wet shirt, "remember this moment. Remember what you almost lost."
Samuil's arm tightens around me. "I remember," he says
