None of it stayed separate. It kept aligning itself without permission.
Alistair walked beside him instead of behind, his pace adjusted without discussion. Rei followed at the usual distance, neither close nor distant, just positioned where he always was when his presence was not meant to interfere.
No one spoke immediately.
Not because there was nothing to say, but because what they carried back did not fit into simple explanation yet. It needed structure before language.
At one of the inner junctions, Rei slowed.
Not stopping.
Just shifting his direction slightly, like his part of the movement had reached its endpoint.
Lucian noticed without looking back. Rei was peeling away again, slipping out of their immediate path without explanation, the same way he always did when his attention had already been extracted from the situation.
Lucian did not acknowledge it.
Alistair noticed as well, but said nothing.
