I notice the shift in Caleb before he speaks.
Not distance.
Precision.
It’s there in the way he pauses before asking questions now. In how his attention doesn’t drift when someone else talks. In the fact that he’s listening for something specific instead of gathering everything at once.
It’s subtle enough that most people wouldn’t clock it. He’s still polite. Still efficient. Still exactly as competent as he’s always been.
But his questions have changed.
Less about logistics.
More about timing.
I register it midmorning, halfway through a routine check-in that should’ve taken ten minutes and somehow stretches longer without actually covering more ground. We’re standing near the edge of the training area, gravel crunching under boots as people move past us. The amy smells like damp e
