"You guys look quite similar, though."
Leonard gave no reaction.
No flicker of acknowledgment.
No subtle shift in posture.
Not even a breath too sharp or too still.
But internally?
He adjusted the calculus.
She's sharp. Sharper than she lets on.
That comment wasn't idle.
Not entirely.
Anyone could make a lazy remark about resemblance.
But Velvetin didn't deal in surface-level observations.
If she'd picked up on it, then she hadn't seen resemblance—
She'd seen connection.
Or worse—resonance.
Leonard knew his own aura well enough. Knew how tightly he kept it sheathed. Knew how easily it could be mistaken for something else entirely when suppressed.
But Sylvie…
Even if she didn't mean to, even if her control was better than most—there was bound to be bleed.
And if Velvetin could read energy flows at the depth he suspected she could—
Then yes.
She knew.
Or she thought she knew.
Either way, Leonard couldn't afford to confirm it.
Not here.
