When Charlie said that bit about her "daddy," Elias felt his blood pressure rise. Later, he would examine this moment, turn it over and over in his head, and try to make sense of his responses -- and hers. For now, he crossed his arms and sternly stared at Charlie, one eyebrow raised, until she was done.
And when she was done, he frowned even deeper at her. Not only was she failing to address any of the important pieces to his statements, she was being defensive about it. Defensive, when she had no grounds on which to stand. Defensive, when she should instead have been considering the truth in what he said -- and ways to correct the errors she'd made.
"Is that so?" he asked, very softly. His voice was gravel and authority wrapped up in one long, dark, velvety monotone. His face had not changed at all; in fact, it seemed he wore no expression whatsoever. But his eyes, ice green and afire, told a different story entirely.