Will stood poised outside the library, inhaling the scent of roasted pine wood as he collected his thoughts. After returning home late, he'd been about to settle in when Magnus had summoned him and given their lack of friendly conversation over the last few days he was understandably feeling a little nervous at having to confront her.
The last thing he wanted was to end the day with a reprimand but he plucked up the courage, rasping lightly on the door. When he received her permission to enter he stepped hesitantly into the dimly lit room. "Hey, you wanted to see me?"
Magnus shifted her attention from the warn literature in her lap nodding to the empty space beside her, "please, take a seat Will."
He obliged moving to the far end of the couch and she removed a piece of card from the back of her book, closing it between the pages.
She had been expecting him to return much earlier but his late arrival had at least given her the chance to get her thoughts in order and she took a deep breath meeting his gaze, "I wanted to apologise for my behaviour of late. It's been brought to my attention that I haven't been particularly approachable these past few days and you've born the brunt of my short temper."
Will was shocked by the admission and had to work hard not to let it been seen in his expression. An apology was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear and it reared his own feelings of guilt. He hadn't tried to mend the rift between them, hadn't asked of she was okay and regret over his actions suddenly surged through him. "It's not your fault, everyone's under a lot of stress trying to validate themselves for review and I didn't help by screwing up the Beijing delivery."
"People make mistakes-" she allowed their previous tension to dissipate behind a soft smile, "it's human nature and I should have been more forgiving."
He nodded slowly, drawing an unexpected amount of relief from her relaxed nature. He hadn't realised the full extent to which her disappointment had been weighing him down and with the burden lifted, he found himself easily returning her smile. "So, truce then?"
She appeared amused by the jest, extending her hand with a raised brow and he lent forward accepting the gesture. It felt good, comfortable and he released the grasp pointing to the book in her lap, "anything interesting?"
"Quite so-" she held the cover up towards him, "a biography dedicated to Herbert Wells. A fascinating read though it makes no mention of the real incident which lead him to begin writing."
The subtle quirk of her lips alerted him to the fact there was more behind the story and racked his brain trying to recall the details from his college education. Wells had written the Time Machine , War of the Worlds and -if his memory served correctly- the man had been inspired to start writing after an accident as a child had left him bed ridden. "He broke his leg right?"
Her mouth twisted further, smiling at his knowledge of the subject. "Very good. Though while most people assumed his creativity came from reading, it had more to do with encountering the Aracnaflex species. He was lucky to escape with only one broken limb, poor James nearly lost an eye to the herd of creatures."
Will watched her features drift in response to the memory and resisted the urge to reach out and comfort her. He suspected she still thought of her old friend a lot and against his better judgement, he couldn't stop from stating the obvious, "you miss him don't you?"
"A great deal." It was a quiet admittance as she reflected over the loss. She still missed all of them, bar Nikola of course. John had been the love of her life, her fiancee. Nigel had always been lightening her spirit with humour and James, he had been her confidant. When John had turned they had both felt the bitter sting of betrayal and found sharing the pain to be a small comfort in the torment that ensured.
"I often questioned whether or not we would have been better suited to a relationship than John and I... but there was a certain chemistry lacking between us."
Will placed his elbow over the couch pressing out a sigh as he leant against the open palm, "the heart knows what the heart wants."
"Ah yes, Maurice Sendak-" she stated, recalling the man behind the quote, "another writer inspired by bad health I believe."
The amount of unique insight she had into history never ceased to amaze him and stifling a yawn, he curled his legs up to mimic her position and get more comfortable. "Go on then, lets hear it."
She reached down absently fiddling with the book in her lap, "actually there's nothing particularly interesting to tell there I'm afraid. From what we briefly discussed his work was based largely on rather irritating relatives. Though I do believe he used the word 'abnormal' to describe them."
She glanced back up finding his gaze with a warm smile, pleased to have rectified the situation between them.
The easy conversation and refreshing light banter was a comfort she'd missed in the last week and whilst heeding herself to be careful, she also succumbed to the thought that perhaps allowing him closer wasn't such a terrible thing. After all their friendship wasn't that far removed from the one she had shared with James.
Aside from one minor detail.
She forced the word 'chemistry' from her mind, intent on listening as he began fishing for another story. It was a welcome distraction and for once she was more than happy to oblige his curiosity.