“I suppose there wouldn't. Still, as someone who likes to think of himself as observant, at least as far as men go, it's something I'd expect of myself.” Evan was, if nothing else, his own worst critic, and he hated missing obvious things. Though, really, he wasn't sure how obvious this particular matter was. “All the same, the answer will do.”
Evan didn't put much stock in speech pattern anymore. He used to be something of a grammar snob, a fact which he attributed to having a sister who aspired to be a professional writer. But of late—since starting the compound, really—he'd come to the realization that some of the greatest minds hid themselves behind some of the simplest words. Brandon Stone was a prime example of that. He sounded rather unintelligent, if you heard him speak. But if you listened to what he was saying, it was a completely different ball game.
He was snapped out of his thought process (and it was probably obvious that he'd been a thousand miles away) when she spoke up again. “Indeed,” he said. Spoken as a simple observation. “I think she's confused by it. Up until now she was pretty sheltered...” he paused. Was it really right to call what Marigold had been 'sheltered?' It didn't seem right, but he didn't say as much. “Oh,” he chuckled a little and nodded, grinning. Maybe a small part of him should have corrected her, told her that Marigold wasn't his biologically, but as every day passed, it felt more and more like he was actually her father, so he didn't have the heart to say it like that. “Thanks. It's actually my first, though,” he said instead. “Leah's second.”
“I didn't come here enough when it was still up and running,” he mused. “I was considering involving myself in some of the science team's work. I'm not really a science person, but I'm an incredibly fast learner. So, I guess maybe I was hoping to find that there was enough here to clean up and get things back up and running again.” He paused. “Everything that's been going on lately reminded me how much we need things like this.”
He looked at the box and nodded his head. “Why, exactly, are you boxing it up?” he asked her. “Is the lab moving elsewhere?”