The rustle of the material as she left the bed made him look up with a near-comical mixture of hope and apprehension, yet when she leaned past him, he had already half-risen out of the chair to back away from any accidental contact. He didn't actually say anything when this happened, he just sat back down as if he hadn't even considered moving, and pulled his hands back into the overlong sleeves to hide his fingers curling anxiously into his palms. Awkward the moment she was out of sight, Aaron stared at the wall to try to avoid staring at the bed.
He noticed the china as she brought it nearer to him, since it had so little negative emotional residue on it that he couldn't help but contrast it with everything else.