Professor Keyes's Office, Brunnhold
There was dancing, of course. There was the break coming up, when she would be staying on campus. Even the St. Grumbles party - and how exciting, to have a party that everyone would attend! Madeleine thought it was a wonderful idea.
And, of course, during break she would have time to do whatever she wanted - no class at all! There would be plenty of dancing of course. What Madeleine really needed to do, she decided, was to work on her project on the history of thought about gravity - she had so much work to do! The little Anaxi was nearly smiling at the thought.
The passive’s voice carried into the room as if he wasn’t even trying to be quiet, and Madeleine looked wide-eyed at the door, the smile sliding off her face. Professor Keyes was looking too, and all the anxiety Madeleine had worked so hard to soothe fluttered back to life, leaving her nauseous again.
Professor Keyes had heard - he was going to ask - and what would she tell him? Madeleine was trembling. She didn’t want to talk about it; she didn’t want to think about it. She never, ever wanted to tell anyone what Niamh had said to her; she didn’t even want to think about it ever again.
Should she tell him?
Should he know that his passive’s sister was - was - moony? Moony was a good word for it. Madeleine but her lip. Did she have a responsibility to tell him? If Niamh Madden was so unstable, Madeleine could only imagine - perhaps her passive brother was -
And how strange that she would even talk to him! How awful, Madeleine thought, to remind him of what he wasn’t anymore. It seemed to her almost cruel, but she reminded herself that something was wrong with Niamh Madden. Something was definitely wrong with her.
So - did she need to tell him? Thinking about the words Niamh had said, the words she would need to repeat, made Madeleine want to run away. But she wouldn’t need to say them, surely, would she? But she would need to explain the sort of thing Niamh had said, and even just the thought of anything around it made Madeleine feel a little faint. No, she decided, she couldn’t.
And - anyway - siblings weren’t always the same, were they? Sebastian and Angelique were both so talented; they had so many friends. Vespasian was smart, a genius. And then - and then there was Madeleine. In the middle.
Madeleine swallowed, hard. No, she thought, miserable, siblings weren’t always the same.
Madeleine’s head jerked up, wide-eyed, when Professor Keyes approached. “Some more tea would be very nice, thank you,” Madeleine looked down at the lukewarm remnants in her cup, trembling a little.
She looked up again when Professor Keyes spoke, still wide-eyed. Does - he - distress you? It took her a moment to realize what he meant, but he kept talking throughout and Madeleine scrambled madly to try and keep up, her thoughts racing. The passive? Did he think - what was in her field - that it was about the passive?
“Oh!” Madeleine blurted out. “Oh, no. No,” she hesitated, realizing he had moved on quite a bit and not entirely sure what question she had answered. And - if she said no - what would he think then? She couldn’t tell him about Niamh; she couldn’t.
“I mean,” Madeleine’s voice caught and quivered. “You’re right, of course, it isn’t his fault,” she nodded. “And we do have a duty, and it’s very terrible if - if he wasn’t - looked after properly.”
Madeleine hadn’t thought of it, but of course it made sense. It wasn’t that Professor Keyes didn’t know how to take care of a passive, how to teach him how to behave. It was just that he had been poorly treated before; he needed time to adjust, Madeleine thought. Poor thing; she was sure he would get the hang of it before long. She supposed he had been only trying to help; he just didn’t know how he was meant to behave. Her heart ached a little with pity for him, and she nearly suggested that Professor Keyes keep Niamh away from him - but the words seemed to die in her tongue, because she didn’t know how she would explain. Niamh had seemed so... normal, up until... he probably had no idea.
No, Madeleine thought, uneasily. She couldn’t say anything. Poor Professor Keyes too, working so hard when Niamh might be undoing all of it with her - her - Madeleine’s imagination failed her; she couldn’t even think of the words to describe the older student.
And it would be terribly rude to criticize him! Professor Keyes was doing his best, Madeleine was sure. Perhaps - in time - with how the passive had behaved, Madeleine was sure he couldn’t have been here long.
“It’s very good of you to take him on,” Madeleine said, firmly. She was a little unsure if it was an appropriate compliment for her to give, but she had to say something; she had to. “I’m sure it must be terribly difficult. I don’t mind if he stays.”