Note: This is one of a pair of ficlets, because I couldn't decide which angle I liked best. :)

.

.

.

They watch Alek and Dylan talk and laugh their way down the corridor, to all appearances the best of friends. Dr. Barlow turns to the man beside her and says drily, "May I assume, then, that you haven't told him?"

Count Volger lifts one shoulder in a fractional shrug. "It seemed unnecessary."

Her eyebrow arches. "Indeed. I would praise you for your charity, Count…"

"If you were less aware of my character?" he says with asperity, and she inclines her head in agreement. Her honesty brings the merest flicker of amusement to his face. "It's useful information, and as such should not be squandered."

"One never knows," she says, "when an appropriate occasion for blackmail might arise."

He gives her his full attention. The flicker is growing into an actual smile, even if it has only reached his eyes. "You persist in making me out to be a villain, Doctor, when I am merely a survivor. Darwinists are said to admire that trait, if I'm not mistaken."

"Indeed," she says, allowing her own mouth to curve upward. She looks again at the children. It's blindingly obvious, now; she will never forgive herself for not noticing independently. "I wonder, though, that he doesn't already know."

"Most people see what they choose," Volger says, following her line of vision. "A failure of perception that afflicts every level of society." He sighs and adds, sotto voce, "Even after so much instruction."

Now she makes no attempt to mask her good humor. "A small consolation, Count," she says, lightly touching his arm. "The truth will out, as ever, and we can expect to have an excellent vantage point when it does."

"Indeed," he says, deliberately echoing. He holds out his arm, and she takes it. "You are rather perspicacious yourself, Doctor."

"A good fabricator must put something of herself into her work," she says primly, and is rewarded with a full smile at last. He is quite handsome when he smiles.

They turn their backs on the children and make their way elsewhere. They haven't gone far when Volger says, "It would have been cruel as well, to deprive him of the security of a good friend when he has so little else to be sure of."

She draws back just enough to look into his face and says lightly, "Careful, sir, or I shall be forced to revise my opinions of your character, and that will play havoc with all of my plans."

"My deepest apologies to your plans," he says, giving her a very correct half-bow, and she laughs.