Aves was relieved to hear she hadn't entirely lost her game face. His gentle reminder that he understood the fear of being found clicked again with what he'd said the other day about being hunted. It always amazed her how heartless people could be, even after living half her life out of a backpack. She was also amazed at how much they had in common. It was easy to sit on the couch with him and talk about things she generally kept closely guarded from most of the world. Now that her understanding of the world was expanding, she needed strong, understanding people in her life. People like Noah.
"Yeahp," she said. "It sucked for a while, because I tend to be on the cheerful side most of the time." She shrugged it off, though. Learning to control her cheerful nature had given her the tools she needed to succeed in a lot of things. She'd managed cyber school while on the run, she'd played decoy more than once, she'd gained ease of control over her abilities, and she'd gained discipline. It had been worth the hours, weeks, years of practice. "So what you're saying is that I won't like you when you're angry," she said when he told her his trigger. In part, it was to help keep the mood light. That, and she couldn't help herself. All those years of stupid jokes with Connor had given her a punny sense of humor. "Anger can be a very useful trigger. Makes it easier in battle, I'd wager. Can you imagine trying to be delighted while being tackled?"
His story drove the trigger home, and she almost regretted her last comment, but it was too late to take it back now. Curious about the sister she'd just learned existed, she asked, "What's her name?" She hoped it was a nice, safe question that would keep the topic going and relieve some of the tension she saw creeping into his expression. She wasn't terribly worried about an outburst. A force field would help protect them if it came to it. But she didn't want to see him hurting like that.