"Well," Julian said, letting his words settle in the silence of the corridor. "Better than when I left."
She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly as if to measure some hidden truth.
"You're different," she said at last.
Julian allowed himself a brief smile. "People keep saying that," he replied, a trace of amusement in his tone.
"Because it's true." She paused, her gaze sweeping over him slowly. "The last time I saw you, you were—" She hesitated, as though weighing each word before letting it escape. "You were not like this."
"Like what?" Julian asked, genuinely curious now.
She considered it and her eyes traced his face as if reading a map only she could decipher.
"Quiet," she said finally, her voice low. "You were never quiet before. You took up a great deal of space in every room you entered. You made sure of it." Her gaze lingered on him. "Now, you stand here in a corridor, and the corridor doesn't even know you're here."
