**DEREK POV**
I notice the change before I understand it.
It registers in fragments, the way things always do when instinct gets there first. Not as a single moment, not as a clear signal, but as a collection of small deviations that my mind would normally dismiss if my body had not already marked them as relevant. I am used to patterns. I live inside them. I notice when they shift, even when I do not yet know why.
Your posture is tighter than it was yesterday. Not defensive. Not closed. Controlled. Like you are holding something in place with deliberate effort, maintaining an internal boundary that takes focus to sustain. You are still composed, still competent, but there is tension braided through that composure now, like a wire pulled taut beneath a clean surface.
Your breathing is
