Noble didn't want to be here.
He especially did not want to be here after having talked to Daff yesterday for the first time since they had broken things off in March. He would have tried to come up with an excuse to avoid it, except he was worried that Clem would have caught on and brought up the thing from the Teapot Trials. And if Clem brought up that he'd been flirting with Miss Potts, and then Ford remembered that Noble had said there was a girl, — (never mind that Ford was clearly hungover, he was also generally at least a little observant, so) — and then what if everyone connected the dots, and that was a fucking nightmare. So. He would go and he would try to avoid his family a bit, which was in character because they'd already been at a party yesterday, and he wouldn't have wanted to be here even if it hadn't been an event that seemed designed to make him lose his mind. He would go and try to avoid Daff more effectively than he had yesterday. This would be — fine.
At least the plants were interesting.
He'd taken a chance opportunity to wander back through the tunnel after catching up with a schoolmate, and was caught off guard by the appearance of a tunnel he hadn't noticed on his way in. It was possible — likely, even — that he'd been too focused on either the underwater plants or on thinking of ways to avoid getting caught in conversation with any of the Potts.
He turned down it. His family wouldn't miss him for a few minutes, surely — and after a few steps, Noble stopped short, having spotted a familiar blond. "Good afternoon, Miss Cartwright," he said. Hopefully nothing would burst into flames this time.
He especially did not want to be here after having talked to Daff yesterday for the first time since they had broken things off in March. He would have tried to come up with an excuse to avoid it, except he was worried that Clem would have caught on and brought up the thing from the Teapot Trials. And if Clem brought up that he'd been flirting with Miss Potts, and then Ford remembered that Noble had said there was a girl, — (never mind that Ford was clearly hungover, he was also generally at least a little observant, so) — and then what if everyone connected the dots, and that was a fucking nightmare. So. He would go and he would try to avoid his family a bit, which was in character because they'd already been at a party yesterday, and he wouldn't have wanted to be here even if it hadn't been an event that seemed designed to make him lose his mind. He would go and try to avoid Daff more effectively than he had yesterday. This would be — fine.
At least the plants were interesting.
He'd taken a chance opportunity to wander back through the tunnel after catching up with a schoolmate, and was caught off guard by the appearance of a tunnel he hadn't noticed on his way in. It was possible — likely, even — that he'd been too focused on either the underwater plants or on thinking of ways to avoid getting caught in conversation with any of the Potts.
He turned down it. His family wouldn't miss him for a few minutes, surely — and after a few steps, Noble stopped short, having spotted a familiar blond. "Good afternoon, Miss Cartwright," he said. Hopefully nothing would burst into flames this time.
![[Image: R8WsUdP.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/R8WsUdP.jpeg)
set by Lady