Even as she started leading the way, their rapport made Nadia's smile grow irrepressibly larger while listening to their banter; Nadia turned her face away, so they couldn't see how charmed and delighted she was. "It is fantastic that you two know each other," she said over her shoulder, pushing open the door to one of the few coveted reading rooms. Privacy was a premium in this shelter; people were generally piled on top of each other, bumping elbows all day.
"It must make working together easier. How long have you two been in Austin?"
She hopped onto the edge of a table that, in another time and another life, must have been used by students for quiet studying, her feet now swinging above the ground (she was short). The fact that Olivia had been able to summon not one, but two medical personnel was impressive.
Life here wasn't outright luxury, perhaps, but it wasn't scrabbling for survival either. Even this meeting was almost like normalcy, in fact: the small room gave the impression of an examination room, even if it was bereft of examination chair and scale and equipment.