Gwen's in the middle of sending a barrage of her mana energy targets at her opponent when she notices something odd about Kevin and Ben.
She sends her attack and turns her head to look toward her companions and notices their auras are different than normal. Well, in comparison to when Gwen usually sees them.
Ben's usual erratic and every moving aura is reaching for Kevin's, and to Gwen's honest shock, Kevin's is responding.
She notices this as their team is sparring in the pitch. Rook, Ben, Kevin, and herself are being bombarded by attacks from Verdona and Max. Verdona has her own magical barriers and traps spread out and Max is using his own brute strength alongside other Plumbers to train them.
This has become a daily training session to build their teamwork but also to prepare for the Forever Knights when they finally decide to attack.
Gwen was trying to trace the mana and aura coming from Verdona when she caught the glimpse of a different wave coming off the two of them.
She is still standing there gawking that the two of them. She's watching them play off each other, working in tandem, like they've never known any different. The two are even sending short quips back and forth to each other.
Gwen wouldn't be to bothered by these except for the fact the two were at each other's necks in the last practice. In fact, their auras were almost repulsed from each other them. She is so distracted by this change that she doesn't notice the Plumber shooting directly at her. She is hit directly in her gut and is sent spiraling into Rook. He catches her, but just barely.
"Gwen are you okay?" He asks her straightening up his own body.
She stares blankly for a second before shaking her head to clear her mind, "Yea I am, I just saw something unusual." Rook gives her a questioning look but shrugs it off and continues on.
Gwen goes back to her own battle and tries to not get sidetracked by this new change in aura. It bites and gnaws in the back of her brain though. Something has changed.
When they complete their training for the day, Gwen tries to look at Ben and Kevin carefully.
Honestly her face looks like she's glaring them down, but she's trying to identify what's changed in them.
Ben and Kevin are laughing and carrying a conversation with Rook, not anything unusual. When Gwen looks at their auras though, there is something clearly different happening.
Usually, she doesn't look at her friends' auras, it's a personal thing. Everyone's aura is like a fingerprint, it's unique. It feels too intimate sometimes, especially since the others can't see them. Their auras are based off their own mana that they produce, everyone's own little energy field.
She knows what they all look like, it makes it easier for her to track and find someone if she needs them quickly. Especially in a fight if they get separated. She's been working on it a lot more recently, after they all split up and were trapped a few different spells, she realized that she might want to commit everyone's aura to memory.
Ben's is a vibrant green that vibrates constantly, it's pretty fitting she thinks. His aura is just as energetic as he is and is almost never still. Rook's is a beautiful white that flows easily and stay close to his body only moving when he's near Ben. When Ben and Rook stand close or are touching each other, their auras will dance together.
It's something that she's seen with her grandparents too. Verdona and Max's auras will dance together when their too close. Verdona's aura is a bright fuchsia and moves like liquid, constantly looking for something new. Max's is a soft yellow and looks fuzzy around the edges, it moves in a routine changing how it flows around him depending on the scenario. The only time it obstructs its path is to veer off to Verdona's. When their auras touch it creates a beautiful orange that Gwen equates to the sun.
Gwen easily figures out that it's their auras reflecting their relationships, after all, it's connected to them at their core.
She read in one of her texts that auras interact and show how people truly see one another. The closer the bond the more entangled they'll become. Auras can intertwine and often they do with many people. It's almost a cheat sheet to the heart. It's why Gwen doesn't stare at them too long. She feels like she's invading on their intimacy.
Something was happening with Ben and Kevin's though. They were pulling toward each other.
Gwen knows that friends and family can have auras that embrace, in fact it's normal, but Kevin's has never moved toward anyone. Not when she's looked anyway.
Kevin's aura has been the hardest to read, it was a murky midnight blue color, it swirls around him like a tornado. It's hard to see him through it sometimes. When Gwen looks at it she feels suffocated from the heaviness of it.
It's cleared up recently, she notices that it's twisting and turning motions have slowed down. It hasn't stopped, but it's definitely slowed down. It's also pulling at Ben.
Gwen realizes that their auras are connecting. Something has definitely happened between them.
"Gwen? You okay?" Kevin's gruff voice interrupts her train of thought, she looks up quickly and notices all three men staring at her in confusion.
"Yeah you good? You had an intense look on your face like this." Ben states and then proceeds to twist his face into a deep-set frown, furrow his brows down, and dramatically crosses his arm.
She prickles in irritation at that. "I don't look like that Ben!" she rushes out in frustration.
Kevin smacks Ben upside his head easily like its second nature and says, "Seriously, what were you so concentrated about? You were giving us a pretty nasty look." He cocks his head slightly at her.
Ben is crouched, holding his head and hissing in slight pain. He pouts and looks up at Rook who just shakes his head in disbelief at him.
Kevin's face is concerned and Gwen feels guilty for prying.
She rolls her eyes and starts to head toward the exit, "It's nothing really, I'm just tired. I'll see you guys later." She waves her hand dismissively at them and leave them behind on the training grounds.
She'll talk to Kevin later, she can ask him if anything has happened between him and Ben in private. Se doesn't need to air out whatever they've sorted out in front of everyone.
If anything did happen, it has to be a good thing, his aura feels lighter to her. She smiles at the idea of that. He's growing if that's the case, if he's letting people in past the wall he's built up himself. She's not sure what happened, she can't quiet place it, but it's almost like they've let go of a burden.
She shrugs to herself and keeps walking back to her room. She'll find out eventually.