She didn't like to look him in the eye, he noticed. Constans watched her fidgety little mannerisms as she retreated with the jar, curious in a way that he likely wouldn't have recognized as condescension even if he had been more prone to self-analysis. It wasn't often that he actually got to observe the Common Nerd in its natural habitat, never less a female of the species! Her timid smile meant progress, surely; unless, come to think of it, Nerds were like dogs and smiling indicated stress? Maybe she'd bite him. Fascinating. His amusement at this sarcastic little thought made it hard to keep irony out of his expression.
"Face still attached?" Constans joked cheerily as the echo of the sneeze died away, shuffling through the contents of the shelf next to him in an idle, distracted attempt to look like he was still being useful.
"Did you hear that?" he added, glib as could be. "I think you just caused a cave-in down in the deep tunnels. When everyone starts talking about the water level of the lake suddenly dropping, we'll be the only ones who know what really happened."