The sheer weight of what she was doing frightened him, and he was too weary, too soul-sick to hide it. But he did slowly feel the panic ebbing, oddly against his will. He could feel the warmth creeping up his limbs, and (the relief of?) his scientific mind wondering where it came from, and the child's response to drowsiness (opening his eyes wide, trying to combat it without appearing to do so). "What?" Ariel murmured, almost not noticing his own speech.