**
"Is it, though?"
Ariana opened her mouth, closed it, and then — to Aaron's genuine surprise — actually paused to consider the accusation instead of immediately steamrolling past it.
"...Okay, fine, it's a little accurate," she admitted. "But hear me out this time, because this one actually has logic behind it instead of just curiosity. Your biology is still actively forming. The wings haven't finished growing. The bone density is still adjusting. None of what's happening to you reads like a slow, finished process — it reads like something still in progress. If ambient mana saturation accelerated Alyssa's growth this dramatically, there's a real chance it could do something similar to you."
