He decides to focus on the most important thing first.
(Unless it's the least important thing. But it can be justified as the most important. …And anyway, if not the most straightforward, definitely the most tangible.)
He fails not to react re: being chosen as a friend. Instead, the darting look into her eyes is so mixed together with surprise and shyness and delight and panic and a lonely boy being moved and a semi-surrogate-elder-cousin thinking he should laugh and an almost-hope because she's fascinating and too many other things at once… the totality has to be totally ridiculous. All he can do is very quickly look away again. And focus determinedly on the artefact.
"May I?" he asks politely, slipping his wand down his sleeve, only enough to show her the handle, pending her permission. He can't untangle the interpersonal stuff, so he'll start by trying to parse what's probably a fiendishly complicated enchantment, instead.
no subject
He decides to focus on the most important thing first.
(Unless it's the least important thing. But it can be justified as the most important. …And anyway, if not the most straightforward, definitely the most tangible.)
He fails not to react re: being chosen as a friend. Instead, the darting look into her eyes is so mixed together with surprise and shyness and delight and panic and a lonely boy being moved and a semi-surrogate-elder-cousin thinking he should laugh and an almost-hope because she's fascinating and too many other things at once… the totality has to be totally ridiculous. All he can do is very quickly look away again. And focus determinedly on the artefact.
"May I?" he asks politely, slipping his wand down his sleeve, only enough to show her the handle, pending her permission. He can't untangle the interpersonal stuff, so he'll start by trying to parse what's probably a fiendishly complicated enchantment, instead.