Reacting on instinct, Annie brought her hands toward her face. Her mind reached outward, sensing his presence just as his thoughts reached her, and she stopped. Then she smiled.
"'athan!" she exclaimed, dropping the spoon on the carton of ice cream as she turned toward him. She had a streak of ice cream just under one eye, a clear indication that she hadn't thought of the spoon in her hand when she'd tried to cover her eyes. She didn't care about the sticky, chilly mess at the moment either. She was far too busy moving toward him.
"M-Missed you," she added, the smile never faltering. His presence was a comforting one for her, one that she'd long since learned to associate with the same feeling she received from Sister, and Peter. Very few were able to truly reach Annie, yet all three of them had managed in their own ways.
She didn't throw her arms around him. Annie instead wrapped her arms around herself and smiled broadly at him. That final threshold - actively touching someone - was s difficult one for her to cross. She was no less happy, though. She simply couldn't initiate such contact, or return it as others would, in the same fashion.