The residual readings stayed clean.
Selene closed the ambient log and set the slate on the workbench. The three residual fields still overlapped at the edges—Elizabeth and Aiden's lock descending toward baseline, Selene's signature deliberately open instead of sealing itself the way it usually did.
No one moved to put distance between them.
Aiden brushed his knuckles lightly along the side of Elizabeth's neck, the same place he had touched earlier. The residual lock warmed under the contact.
Elizabeth leaned into it without hesitation. Selene watched with the steady attention she gave residual curves, though her posture had lost some of its usual rigidity.
"You're both still running elevated," she said. Not a criticism. An observation.
"It'll settle," Aiden answered. His hand stayed at Elizabeth's neck, thumb against her pulse. "It always does. Just not as fast when the contact is recent."
