***
Lumi’s room has green walls.
The candle is lit.
I sit. She sits across from me, already focused.
“The panel met,” she says.
“I know.”
“Formal review. Written submissions. Footage from the yard this morning.” She pauses. “They reviewed everything.”
I watch the flame.
“The determination is a significant shift in RJ’s ferality. Not resolution. Shift.” Her gaze stays on mine. “That distinction matters.”
It does.
“Restraints come off the protocol entirely,” she continues. “Not just informally. On paper. His schedule is now managed by a team — Gavin, Sven, me. Cal and Stone have input. No single point of control.”
“Gavin agreed to that.”
“He proposed it.”
Wow.
“He’s recalibrating,” she says. “Not changing. Adjusting how he evaluates what this place can do.”
That’s closer to the truth than anything softer would be.
“And me,” I say. “The placement.”
“Tomlinson is recommending a hybrid structure. Remote coursework through Frosthaven, physical presence here. It needs panel approval, but his recommendation carries weight.”
“He thinks it will hold,” I say.
Lumi nods.
“Do you think RJ will improve,” I say, “or stay like this.”
“On a trajectory,” Lumi says. “Not stable. Not finished. Moving.”
She watches me.
“He ate with the pack. Chose not to complete the circuit. Joined a group activity without escalation. Completed coursework.” I pause. “Made eye contact and held it.”
That matters more than she says.
“How are you,” she asks.
The real question.
I think about the door without a lock.
Leo and Torres arguing about coffee like it’s life or death.
Jake eating like it matters.
