Honestly, other than noticing Pete's state of undress (which wasn't terrible given the circumstances and could have been significantly worse), she didn't really notice anything was off about him. He seemed tired, but not particularly blotto, though of course she herself had sworn off the drink after that fateful party at Cynthia Dale's house where she had drunk way too much vodka punch and sang into a hairbrush. Not to mention, of course, how Lesley spent the night glued to the toilet. Anyway, she didn't put those together, though she may have avoided barging in if she had known (but probably not).
She hardly registered his hand on her shoulder, though she allowed him to lead her to the couch, and she found that sitting down was something to do, a direction, and while a pat on the head might have made her feel like Lesley's golden retriever, she could see he was trying and that made all the difference. She calmed down a bit, especially after he said he didn't think she was stupid, and she exhaled deeply before even trying to answer his questions.
"Yes, tea please. Oh, let me see if I can explain. So, I mentioned that I'm a carrier-the LAST carrier as it happens-of a time travel gene. In all, there are 12 of us in history. Many of the mysteries of time travel were gathered by one of these time travelers, a man who is very mysterious himself, who's called the Count Saint-Germain even if that is most certainly not his name. He started a lodge to protect the secrets and protect the time travelers. Or, at least, to help keep them from traveling spontaneously. He figured out how to use this device called the chronograph to allow us to travel to a specific point in time and for a specific length of time. Without elapsing for a certain amount each day, it's possible for any of us to just travel to any old time period or time of day, and as you can imagine that can be very dangerous. What if you were walking on a bridge that didn't get built until 1850 and you travel to 1734? Anyway..." She paused for a moment to let him hand her a cuppa, her hands still shaking a bit, but steadying. The warmth really made a huge difference in her fear.
"When I first learned I was a gene carrier, my mother warned me not to be alone with the count and not to trust him; to avoid meeting him in the past at all, if possible, and that he could read minds. I didn't really understand why, only that my mum thought it important, though she didn't really EXPLAIN. Anyway, on my second day, I DID travel and met the count, with Gid-with the other time traveler. And while we were there, I tried to repeat God Save The Queen to keep him from reading my mind, but he managed to squeeze my neck and speak directly into my head without moving from across the room or moving his lips at all."
She paused and this time looked up at him, hoping at least some of this was making sense. "Are you with me still, I know this is all a bit mad."