Laboratory Beta
As he began talking, his face changed and his awareness of anything else around him diminished sharply. The more he spoke the more into the topic he became and the more romantic his descriptions grew. A smile crept onto her face, the young woman resisting the urge to giggle as he started gesticulating wildly and rather aimlessly, his enthusiasm boundless; she couldn’t resist a snort at the display though.
The young man probably wasn’t furnishing Aurelie with the answers she wanted but he meant well. Furthermore, all his excitement and his pretty words were highly endearing. The eldest Madden was quite fond of her brother and she felt certain that the passive woman was very fond of him as well, although it no doubt went beyond mere fondness. What Niamh saw as endearing and regarded with fondness, Aurelie no doubt found rather attractive. Not that the galdor couldn’t see it — the attractiveness. Fionn was a very handsome young man, just like his younger brother. His features were made all the more pleasant when they were animated, giddy joy shining out of his face and she supposed that even the movements of his hands and arms could be viewed as enticing if you were sufficiently interested. Niamh knew from experience that that was a very real possibility; she found the most mundane things about Harper attractive. But her dear professor didn’t have the sort of musculature that her brother did, subtle though it was and she understood that many women found that sort of masculine marker to be rather seductive. Not that she was taken in by such things. After all, the monic theorist could hardly be termed a shining example of virility; no one else seemed to find him worthy of notice.
Obviously, the Living Conversationalist wasn’t considering her brother like that, just imagining how he might look in Aurelie’s eyes. His sister was simply happy to see him looking more lively than he had since arriving at the lab with fears about his former roommate. Seeing him forget his misery — even if only temporarily — was quite heartening and it was what the student had hoped for when she’d decided to bring Aurelie here. She’d wanted the female servant to pull him out of himself, stop him from sinking deeper into his despair and the young woman had reached him in a way that Niamh had known she wouldn’t be able to do. She genuinely sounded as if she would be happy to allow Fionn to talk about whatever he chose — something that Niamh had never been able to stomach.
However, she felt that she was interfering again — for reasons outside of anything romantic. As her brother suggested that the diminutive redhead try to feel the nexus for herself, the final year student was forced to dampen her field so that it wouldn’t intrude on her senses. It wasn’t just the tangible presence of her field that encroached on the situation with the passives. It felt like this was an exclusively passive moment and that she wasn’t meant to be there; Niamh felt like an interloper.
The redhead chewed the inside of her cheek — which was better than biting her nails — and raised her teacup to take a dainty sip, watching furtively over its lip as the young woman shut her eyes. A look to Fionn showed that he was trying not to gaze at her too intently and so their eyes met, hazel to brown. His narrowed slightly and he frowned. She glanced away.
When the other redhead spoke at last, her voice sounded very-
The student looked up and yes, Aurelie was teary-eyed but not sobbing. Her voice had a weak tremor to it, which sounded like unshed tears clogging her vocal cords. She sounded quite upset but… she’d been upset before they’d entered the lab, hadn’t she? It seemed unlikely that the inability to sense a nexus had caused so much emotion. Although she could be a very sensitive young woman; Niamh didn’t know her well enough to tell.
How was she meant to handle a situation like this? What should she do?
“It’s all right, I’m sure that you’ll find it easier when you have a chance to try it in your own time,” the galdor assured her, curling a lock of hair loosely around her finger before absently tucking it behind her ear. She sipped her tea, wondering what other platitudes she could offer or if there was something more practical she could offer. Should she cross the few feet between them to embrace her? No, that’d just be awkward and probably not that comforting, but Fionn-
Damnit! He was going to get all touchy-feely again, wasn’t he? She didn’t want to sit here and watch that, squirming uncomfortably while it occurred. At the same time, it’d be mean of her to cut any comforting short when the little passive was ready to cry. The student was determined not to leave and uncomfortable with the idea of staying. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place!
“I’m sure that you’ll get the hang of it,” she offered, gaze dropping to her lap. Her field began to expand once more, an uncomfortable pulse in it.