It must have been the sadness in her eyes or the fact that she did not immediately agree. But Tiel felt a little better. This way, he could say, if not a lot, she cared a little. His words hung in the air as the conveyor belt beside them continued to turn, the soft hum of it comforting in the silence.
In front of him, Celeste gathered her thoughts as she sipped her tea.
"My world wouldn't have been better without you today," Celeste finally said. Tiel looked up, blinking. What did she say?
"What?"
"I said, my world wouldn't have been better without you today," Celeste repeated, the tips of her fingers hanging from the edge of the table as if distracting herself with the sharpness of the table's edge.
"But I was the cause of it, Esti. What are you talking about?" Tiel asked, sighing. He appreciated her efforts, but it did not help the situation.