diff --git a/modules/home/idle.nix b/modules/home/idle.nix
index bdb3226..67922fc 100644
--- a/modules/home/idle.nix
+++ b/modules/home/idle.nix
@@ -43,17 +43,19 @@ in
           check_color = rgb c.warn;
           fail_color = rgb c.bad;
           rounding = t.ui.rounding;
-          # $FPRINTPROMPT is the ONLY place hyprlock renders the fingerprint
-          # ready/scanning/failed messages — there is no implicit slot for
-          # them.  Enabling the backend without this yields a reader that
-          # silently works while the field still says "password…", i.e. a
-          # feature nobody can find (VISION: fingerprint discoverable without
-          # reading the README).  Verified on hardware 2026-07-14: unlock by
-          # finger worked and said nothing at all.
-          placeholder_text =
-            if cfg.idle.fingerprint then "<i>$FPRINTPROMPT</i>" else "<i>password…</i>";
+          placeholder_text = "<i>password…</i>";
         }];
 
+        # The lock screen is deliberately just the clock: the input field
+        # fades out while empty (hyprlock's fade_on_empty default) and only
+        # appears once you type.  So the fingerprint hint CANNOT live in the
+        # field's placeholder — $FPRINTPROMPT renders faithfully into a widget
+        # nobody sees until they have already given up on the reader and
+        # started typing.  It needs a surface that is visible at rest, and a
+        # label is the one that keeps the clock-only look.  (Confirmed on
+        # hardware 2026-07-14: labels do expand $FPRINTPROMPT, so the line is
+        # live — "password… or scan finger", then "scanning finger…" on touch —
+        # and not static text.)
         label = [{
           monitor = "";
           text = "$TIME";
@@ -63,7 +65,20 @@ in
           position = "0, 120";
           halign = "center";
           valign = "center";
-        }];
+        }] ++ lib.optional cfg.idle.fingerprint {
+          monitor = "";
+          text = "$FPRINTPROMPT";
+          # subtext-on-base is the palette's secondary-text role and is held
+          # to a 3.0 contrast floor on every theme by checks.theme-contrast —
+          # the same guard that exists because two themes once shipped
+          # subtext == base and made hint text invisible.
+          color = rgb c.subtext;
+          font_size = 16;
+          font_family = t.fonts.ui;
+          position = "0, -160";
+          halign = "center";
+          valign = "center";
+        };
       } // lib.optionalAttrs cfg.idle.fingerprint {
         # hyprlock does NOT take a fingerprint through PAM: its PAM stack runs
         # only on submit, so a parallel module never gets to poll the reader.