This time, the sound was more like a hiss as he attempted to form Slav's name. To his numb brain, he thought he had even managed it -- certainly, he had tried. The problem was that the words simply would not come out.
He stared at her, so completely beyond words and deed that he could almost stop breathing. It was as though a new world had been opened to him, secrets revealed, new parts of the brain discovered. There was a bright light somewhere, a tunnel...
In short, for about one entire second, Gor went entirely brain-dead.
Oxygen suddenly filled his lungs again, and he inhaled sharply enough to make him cough and sputter. And while he was reacquainting himself with his lungs -- one hand against the wall, half-turned away from Zoe -- his brain had already kicked itself back into high gear.
Slav. Slav had seen Riff. And he thought Riff was a guy? At first glance, maybe. But she had spoken to him!
Slav thought Riff was a boy and that they were a couple! His laugh was frantic-sounding and high-pitched -- and not all together there as he lurched forward. His shoulder collided with the wall -- hard enough to leave a bruise later on his delicate skin -- and he straightened with a grave face.
Without a word to Zoe, he turned and began walking back down the corridor in the direction from which he had come. He was mumbling something under his breath, what sounded like a series of numbers and was, in actuality, the computation of pi. It was soothing to him, like the sound of waves for most people.