This was a mistake, a small voice hisses in the back of her mind as the door opens to reveal a practical stranger; she ignored it, though, hugging herself tighter as she followed her uncle into the house. She let – what was to her, at least – an awkward fog of quiet settle over the pair, unable to return his greeting with how leaden her tongue felt in her mouth.
As her luggage floated inside, she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or discomfited to find no one up and about – on one hand, everyone was likely retired for the night or sleeping, and she would hate to bother them; on the other, maybe a tiny part of her had hoped Agatha would have been waiting for her, to offer Nell support in this stressful time.
Head host to a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions, Nell found herself suddenly downstairs, in the kitchen. She fidgeted with indecision, whether or not to take off her coat and scarf, whether or not to break the quiet—
When her uncle spoke first.
To say undivided attention always made her uncomfortable would be a massive understatement, so it was impossible for the teenager not to visibly squirm under the dark gaze of Samuel Griffith. To buy time, she started to take off her scarf, but then aborted the gesture half-way through and started to shimmy out of her thick, bulky coat instead – before, with tangibly miserable embarrassment, she jerked to a halt in hesitation as it pooled around her elbows.
Nitwit, her eyes avoided meeting her uncles as her hands, with their usual tremor, flitted between the two pieces of outerwear, who doesn’t take their coat off at the entrance to a home? Why did you wear it all the way down here?
Well, there was no going back now. So, finally, she settled for stripping off her scarf and pulling her coat back up around her shoulders.
“Yes—of course,” Folding the scarf over her arm, she swallowed heavily with a painfully dry throat, “Definitely—certainly some… I apologize, for the late hour, I'm not normally this rash at all.”
As her luggage floated inside, she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or discomfited to find no one up and about – on one hand, everyone was likely retired for the night or sleeping, and she would hate to bother them; on the other, maybe a tiny part of her had hoped Agatha would have been waiting for her, to offer Nell support in this stressful time.
Head host to a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions, Nell found herself suddenly downstairs, in the kitchen. She fidgeted with indecision, whether or not to take off her coat and scarf, whether or not to break the quiet—
When her uncle spoke first.
To say undivided attention always made her uncomfortable would be a massive understatement, so it was impossible for the teenager not to visibly squirm under the dark gaze of Samuel Griffith. To buy time, she started to take off her scarf, but then aborted the gesture half-way through and started to shimmy out of her thick, bulky coat instead – before, with tangibly miserable embarrassment, she jerked to a halt in hesitation as it pooled around her elbows.
Nitwit, her eyes avoided meeting her uncles as her hands, with their usual tremor, flitted between the two pieces of outerwear, who doesn’t take their coat off at the entrance to a home? Why did you wear it all the way down here?
Well, there was no going back now. So, finally, she settled for stripping off her scarf and pulling her coat back up around her shoulders.
“Yes—of course,” Folding the scarf over her arm, she swallowed heavily with a painfully dry throat, “Definitely—certainly some… I apologize, for the late hour, I'm not normally this rash at all.”