[He stands to meet her as she approaches, his smile softening— though he does not know what her life may have been before coming to this place, he does know what it is to be lonely, how difficult it can be to let people in regardless of one's reason for being guarded. They had recognized that in one another, and her recognizes it again now, even as he reaches to take her hand and give it a firm but gentle shake.
If his heart leaps into his throat for a moment when his fingers close around hers, it's entirely by coincidence.]
Friends.
[It is luck and luck alone that allows him to then catch a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision— someone coming through the front doors they are still in plain view of, the movement just distracting enough to draw his full attention for a single beat.
Immediately, his heart abandons his throat and plummets to somewhere beneath even his stomach when he spots the unmistakable figure of Dr. Manx, well-dressed and severe-looking as she has ever been. His grip on Amelia's hand tightens as he feels his fight-or-flight response triggering, and he quickly begins to move towards the nearest aisle, leaving his bag behind and pulling the literature professor along with him in a hurry.]
no subject
If his heart leaps into his throat for a moment when his fingers close around hers, it's entirely by coincidence.]
Friends.
[It is luck and luck alone that allows him to then catch a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision— someone coming through the front doors they are still in plain view of, the movement just distracting enough to draw his full attention for a single beat.
Immediately, his heart abandons his throat and plummets to somewhere beneath even his stomach when he spots the unmistakable figure of Dr. Manx, well-dressed and severe-looking as she has ever been. His grip on Amelia's hand tightens as he feels his fight-or-flight response triggering, and he quickly begins to move towards the nearest aisle, leaving his bag behind and pulling the literature professor along with him in a hurry.]
This way, quickly!