#mutiineer

He has allowed himself to play into the illusion that for the last twenty minutes, he has been wholly unaware of Michael's presence as she skulks about his lab, lowering the temperature by several degrees with the sour mood she's in. Emmett hasn't looked up once since she entered, nor has he paused in his work even when he heard her moving from one end of the lab to the other, picking up various things on his workstations and putting them down moments later when they must not have kept her attention.

Now, finally, he breaks the illusion, pushing his chair out from the desk with a harsh scrape of its legs against the floor.

❝From the way you've been stomping around in here, I can tell there's something on your mind. You're usually much quieter than that when you don't want to be found.❞ This was clearly deliberate. He rises, turning to fully face her. ❝Do you want to talk about it?❞