Charls' brows might have shot up to his scalp line at the word Caleb had used had it not been for his immaculate control of his face and his earnest dedication to the idea of public manners. But what he hadn't been able to keep himself from doing was spitting out, "Dear?" as if it was an insult to the state of his coat. A smile did flicker on Charls' face, although it only appeared at one corner before it returned to its pocket universe. "You talk as if we're close," he even chuckled a little as he said that.
Charls straightened up, arms still across his chest. "Metaphorical or not, I'm sure you are a smart man and you understand why there must be some vestige of a border between us. You're hydrokinetic, I am electrokinetic. And you and I both know what happens when water and electrical currents mix. And I wouldn't want to be in the same puddle as you if it ever came to that. So let's just say," he looked up to the ceiling, lips pursed very slightly, "This is as much for your good as it is mine." That was the official story, of course.