The calm that had settled in the room did not last long. It began subtly, a shift in Elyra's breathing, a tightening in the muscles of her arm where her hand still held Noel's. The change was small enough that someone unfamiliar might not have noticed it immediately.
Noel did.
Her fingers closed around his like iron, sudden and without warning. For someone who normally carried herself with controlled elegance, Elyra possessed a surprising amount of raw strength when she stopped restraining it. Her nails dug into his skin hard enough that he felt them through the calluses of his palm, and the pressure forced his fingers to bend at an angle that was not comfortable.
He did not pull away.
