The mirror fogged under Marcus's breath, then cleared again as he leaned closer, palms braced against the sink. He tilted his head, studying the reflection with a critical squint that felt almost… intimate.
"Well," he said finally, voice still wrong—too light, too amused—"this is unsettling."
Samantha hovered in the doorway, arms folded tightly across her chest. "You've been staring at yourself for three minutes."
"I'm not staring," Marcus replied. "I'm… reassessing."
She snorted despite herself. "You sound like Kai reviewing a weapon."
Marcus's mouth curved into a grin that absolutely did not belong on his face. "Exactly. That's the problem."
He straightened, rolling his shoulders as if testing the limits of a borrowed body, then turned to her with a look that made her breath catch. There was curiosity in his eyes—raw, unguarded curiosity—something Marcus rarely let surface so openly.
