Mikhailis adjusted the focus on the mana-rune crystal, his brow furrowed in that adorable way Serelith liked to tease him about. The glow from the containment field painted soft green rings beneath his lashes, and for a heartbeat she forgot to breathe. Every time he leans in, he looks like he's about to kiss the machine, she mused, biting back a grin.
The emerald leaf floated steadily inside its levitation cradle, veins pulsing faintly as though it could sense their attention. Tiny sparks crackled between the crystal prongs and the leaf's surface, each flash a whispered syllable in a language neither fully spoke—yet.
"Try lowering the etheric pressure," Serelith murmured, pivoting a slim silver wand between her fingers. As she spoke, threads of mana unspooled from her knuckles like spider silk, drifting until they wrapped the reader array in a shimmering cocoon. Her violet eye glimmered; the monocle's rim caught the light like a wink.
