CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY – OPENING UP TO NEW PEOPLE

With that epiphany unlocking the remaining threads of Alex's solitary drive, Jasmine felt her own convictions realign and settle more solidly. She stepped closer until their arms were almost brushing, standing beside him in shared contemplation of the half-formed colossus. "You're right," she said simply. "Of course you don't need or want my flailing attempts to deconstruct or quantify the ineffable. That would only constrain and diminish the work's vast, cosmic truth into something pitiful and mundane." Alex's dark gaze slid sideways towards her, eyes glittering like subterranean fires in the dimness. He said nothing, but she sensed his guardedness gradually transmuting into something more considering, less reflexively dismissive of her presence. Seizing her newfound foothold, Jasmine pressed on. "All I can offer is my witness when this riverance to your sister and all the world's muted creative forces stands fully revealed. I promise you, I will drink in every anguished, rapturous