Even found illogicality to be one aspect of his human existence which irked him most. It was the little things, like walking into a room, flipping the light on and standing there, wondering why he had ever bothered to enter in the first place, or the innate need to organize pencils in one particular way which made no sense to an onlooker. These small actions, these little reminders that his mind was not made up of comforting, solid fact.
Because, right now, Even was walking in circles. The overexcited twenty year old was making his way from the stairwell, halfway down the hallway and then back again at an alarming rate, wasting all that useful energy quite literally spinning his wheels. If his feet were moving quickly, it was nothing compared to his mind was was bolting through thoughts as thought he were being paid to worry.
One half of him was sure he should just turn back, go upstairs, close himself in the study and hide behind countless volumes until his mind was too tired to tell him he was a coward. The other half of him was positive that this was simply something to accept and move past, that the illogicality could be forced away like a bad case of bronchitis, annoying but ephemeral.
The other entirely impossible half of him wanted to see if it were possible for once, for just once to get him to smile.
"Even?"
An ungodly inhuman shriek and a flailing whirl of lanky arms and pristine white lab coats led to a box being hurled at the guard and hitting him squarely in the chest. A sudden explosion of puzzle pieces resulted. Aeleus stared at Even, dumbfounded. For once, Even stared back, just as silent. His attention dropped to the floor, to the multicolored mess which had scattered around them, several of which were even clinging hopelessly to his hair. He sighed, just a touch dejectedly and Aeleus reflected not for the first time that surprising the scientist tended to have disastrous consequences.
"My apologies." Even answered speedily, as though the words were a ready and waiting justification, although they could seem to account for the tension in his own voice. "I saw you admiring this at the Radiant Garden shops and I purchased it. It was a paltry fee. There's no need to repay me. I must return to the labs. Really, I've wasted so much time here. That is, not to say that I was here very long. I was not pacing here very long. I assure you of that, I was here but a moment." Aeleus nodded in understand, pretending that he had not heard Dilan say that Even was pacing outside of the Guard's quarters again, for the third time that week. It was creeping him out. Aeleus found it oddly reassuring. He couldn't explain why, but rather did not feel the need to do so immediately.
"I'll be leaving now." Even had spun himself on heel just as Aeleus caught his arm. He turned, wide eyes now marveling rather breathlessly at exactly how tall the seventeen year old was, how strong he had grown and how convincingly adult he was. An onlooker would have called him intimidating. Even would have called the onlooker a worthless waste of air.
"Thank you." Aeleus replied softly, the hint of a smile on his usually stoic features. He pulled a bright piece of the puzzle from Even's cornsilk colored hair. Even sighed a word that could have been something between 'Oh' and 'Uh'. Then he promptly backed into the wall behind him with a yelp of frustration.
"It was nothing." He called over his shoulder as he rushed away to the stairwell. "Think nothing of it." But Aeleus was thinking of it a great deal, standing in his mess of puzzle pieces. Predictably enough, Even was too.