diff --git a/config/dot/quickshell/config/Theme.qml b/config/dot/quickshell/config/Theme.qml
index db3452c..882da56 100644
--- a/config/dot/quickshell/config/Theme.qml
+++ b/config/dot/quickshell/config/Theme.qml
@@ -135,7 +135,6 @@ Singleton {
     readonly property int popoverPadding: 14
     readonly property int popoverWidth: 380
     readonly property int controlCenterWidth: 430
-    readonly property int controlCenterTopGap: 2
 
     readonly property int cardRadius: 12
     readonly property int pillRadius: 999
diff --git a/config/dot/quickshell/modules/quicksettings/QuickSettings.qml b/config/dot/quickshell/modules/quicksettings/QuickSettings.qml
index edfe806..7724b35 100644
--- a/config/dot/quickshell/modules/quicksettings/QuickSettings.qml
+++ b/config/dot/quickshell/modules/quicksettings/QuickSettings.qml
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ PanelWindow {
     // against the top edge rather than hanging under nothing.
     anchors.top: true
     anchors.right: true
-    margins.top: Theme.controlCenterTopGap
+    // The same gap every other popover uses. This had its own constant set to
+    // 2, which left the widest surface in the shell hanging ten pixels higher
+    // than the date menu beside it -- an early value nothing else converged on
+    // rather than a decision; it carried no reason, while barGap does.
+    margins.top: Theme.barGap * 2
     margins.right: Theme.barSideMargin
     exclusiveZone: 0
 
diff --git a/tests/quickshell/control-center-contract.sh b/tests/quickshell/control-center-contract.sh
index 0627b7f..8f6829e 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/control-center-contract.sh
+++ b/tests/quickshell/control-center-contract.sh
@@ -66,18 +66,25 @@ start_test_shell() {
 rg -Fq 'readonly property int controlCenterWidth: 430' \
     "$source_config_path/config/Theme.qml" \
     || fail 'approved Control Center width is missing'
-rg -Fq 'readonly property int controlCenterTopGap: 2' \
-    "$source_config_path/config/Theme.qml" \
-    || fail 'approved top attachment is missing'
+
 # The margin is the GAP alone. This used to assert the bar height plus the gap,
 # which is what the code said and what made the panel open 38 pixels below a bar
 # it was written to sit 2 pixels under: an exclusiveZone of 0 already places the
 # surface below the bar's reserved space, so naming the bar height again counted
 # it twice. The contract agreed with the code and so the bug was invisible to
 # both. layer-margin-contract now holds that rule for every surface.
-rg -Fq 'margins.top: Theme.controlCenterTopGap' \
-    "$quicksettings_path/QuickSettings.qml" \
-    || fail 'Control Center is not tightly attached to the bar'
+# Asserted as a RULE rather than a literal, and derived from two files so that
+# drift in either direction fails. The Control Center used to carry its own gap
+# constant set to 2 while every other popover used barGap * 2, leaving the widest
+# surface in the shell hanging ten pixels higher than the date menu beside it.
+# Pinning the new number here would repeat the mistake this file already records
+# below: a contract that agrees with the code cannot see the code being wrong.
+control_center_gap="$(rg -o 'margins\.top: (.+)$' -r '$1' "$quicksettings_path/QuickSettings.qml" | head -1)"
+date_menu_gap="$(rg -o 'margins\.top: (.+)$' -r '$1' "$source_config_path/modules/datemenu/DateMenu.qml" | head -1)"
+[[ -n "$control_center_gap" ]] || fail 'Control Center sets no top margin at all'
+[[ "$control_center_gap" == "$date_menu_gap" ]] \
+    || fail "Control Center hangs at '$control_center_gap' while the date menu uses '$date_menu_gap'"
+
 rg -Fq 'implicitWidth: Theme.controlCenterWidth' \
     "$quicksettings_path/QuickSettings.qml" \
     || fail 'Control Center window does not use its geometry token'