As for that ghostlike state, so far, no one besides Nick and Dahlia could see her with the naked eye. When Monroe had visited last night, for instance, the Wolf Wesen had no idea that someone else was sitting beside Dahlia, studying him with keen interest the whole time.
From Nick's perspective, it might have seemed rather amusing, but on closer thought, wasn't this a classic horror movie scenario?
"What are you researching instead of sleeping?" Nick went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water, then sat beside the girl and looked down at her computer screen. It displayed an analysis of a silver alloy's properties.
"I feel like this alloy might be better suited for making armor and melee weapons." The girl stretched, leaning back into his arms as she did.
Gwen, whose head Nick had gently stroked with his thumb, looked at Dahlia, then down at her own tiny body. Puffing out her cheeks, she returned to her normal size and "leaned" into the other side of Nick's embrace in much the same pose.
However, at her normal size, she could only produce an extremely faint sensation of touch, one that ignored clothing and made direct contact with skin. Not only did it feel strange, but there was also the issue of "clipping."
Nick had grown accustomed to it over the past few days. Besides, although Gwen's mind had reverted to a blank slate and she often acted purely on instinct, fortunately, she listened to him and refrained from terrifying behavior like suddenly appearing in the mirror while he brushed his teeth or casually passing through walls.
In this strange position, he began reading the information about the alloy on the screen.
Among the rare-earth elements was a metal called cerium, with the chemical symbol