And the waves steadied.
Rayce gave the faintest smile—barely a twitch at the edge of his mouth—but somehow it felt like approval anyway.
"Good," he said, his voice quiet but clear. "Powers reflect pressure. Connection relieves it. You'll need each other more than you think."
No one replied right away. They didn't need to. The silence that followed wasn't awkward—it was steady, grounded, a pause filled with understanding.
They stayed where they were for a few more seconds, standing close, letting the quiet settle like a warm breath across the space between them.
Then, without a word, they stepped down from the platform together.
—
That night, none of them went straight to bed.
Instead, they ended up on the rooftop deck of their housing, as if drawn there by the same quiet impulse.
The air was cool, brushing gently across their skin, and the campus stretched out below them like some glowing city of stars.
