By evening, the quiet had a different texture.
Not the heavy kind from before, where everything felt watched and measured. This was lighter on the surface, but it carried something underneath it that Lucas couldn't quite name.
People were still talking, still moving around the courtyard and hallways, but there were more pauses now. Small gaps in conversation where someone stopped mid-thought, reconsidered, then either continued or let it drop entirely.
Lucas noticed it because he was doing it too.
He leaned against the railing on the second level, looking down at the courtyard. A few groups had gathered around the benches, some going over projection logs, others just sitting there, not saying much.
Tomas was below, talking to that same group from earlier. He wasn't leading the conversation, but he wasn't just listening either. He stepped in at the right moments, added something, then stepped back.
It looked… natural.
Lucas pushed off the railing and headed down.
