Noah blinked. There was a note of amused tolerance in her voice, as if he annoyed the hell out of her but she couldn't help but be as amused as frustrated. Many of the people he'd known who'd been paired were more sullen. Maybe Clara just had more adaptability and was able to rise above the situation. He felt a little flush of guilt for feeling glad she's been paired; she'd never been anything but polite to him, and had been good to Julia, who'd liked her very much.
"I'm sorry, I've not heard of him. Is he famous? I've not paid too much attention to the news in the past year."
That was changing though, and he was honestly glad of it. He'd begun paying more heed to things, and didn't feel quite so isolated.