“These old elevators,” Sophia said lightly, “always acting up during the holidays. All those extra lights drawing power…”

“Everything’s fine,” Juniper said quickly, but her fingers kept drifting to where Daniel’s touch had branded her through silk.

The carol singers outside the lobby began another song as they approached the exit. Daniel held the door against the winter wind, his shoulders filling every inch of the egress. Sophia watched Juniper’s eyes track the movement, saw Daniel shift his stance in response to Juniper’s slight shiver before she’d even fully registered the cold herself.

Some partnerships transcend professional boundaries, Sophia thought, hiding her smile as she followed them into the snowy afternoon. She didn’t need to point out what was already written in every shared glance and unconscious gesture - in the way they were gradually becoming two parts of a whole, whether they realized it or not.

“Peace on earth,” the carolers sang behind them, their harmony floating out into the winter air. But peace seemed very far from the electricity building between her friends - this force that was reshaping them both, one unspoken direction, one automatic response at a time…