Page 34 of Nidev and Lyric

“I’m not really having a bad day, Lyric. I’m wanting to understand this trick you use.”

“Well now, I’m not sure if it works if you’re not actually… experiencing the uh… problem.”

“Maybe it will,” he tested.

Her head nodded absently. “Okay, sure.” She fought not to squirm in her seat as she cleared her throat and prepared her mind. “I’m a little nervous.”

“Why should you be?”

She stared at him, the truth poised on her tongue. “Because…” She swallowed and looked down. “It’s a stupid trick,” she muttered. “I’d really rather not do it,” she finished, going for honesty and praying for mercy.

“I’d like to make my own judgments.”

“Oh, trust me, you already have,” she assured.

“I have?”

“I know you, I know how you think, and you’ll think this trick is stupid.”

“Now I definitely want to know what it is.”

God, he wasn’t going to let it go. “Alright,” she relented lightly. “I’ll show you the trick.” She took in a breath and focused her mind on producing the familiar wave then emitted the hum for five seconds, unable to look at him while she did. But the second she was done, her gaze checked for signs it worked.

She released a breath of relief at seeing his unmoved expression. “I’m not that great at it.” More like terrified of his opinion. On top of that, he’d made it terrifyingly clear tonevertry using her gifts on him. Without him requesting it. Like he just had.

“What did you attempt to do?”

She held her breath briefly then released it all at once. “So you didn’t feel… anything?” she checked, torn between hoping he did and didn’t.

“What am I supposed to feel?”

“It’s different for everybody but if you’re not really having a bad day, you may not feel anything,” she hurried, then swallowed.

He angled his head at her for many seconds. “What am I supposed to feel, Doo-nie,” he repeated, the intimate nickname bringing her pulse in her throat.

There was no getting around it. She shrugged a shoulder. “Just… happiness.”

He stared at her for many seconds. “Why was this so hard for you to say?”

Right. She stared at her fidgeting fingers. “I just… figured you’d find it kind of… useless. Maybe.”

“I do,” he said with his brutal honesty.

She chanced a look at him, feeling the usual challenge in his tone that required her to figure it out. Signature Nidev style—nothing was handed to you.

“Personally,” he added. The little detail released her breath. “Why did you choose to develop this trick?”

She considered it, feeling more childish than ever. “I just… thought it was important for people to be happy.”

He slowly leaned forward, putting his forearms on his thighs and his strict gaze closer to her. “And you think this is helpful?”

She stared at him, distracted with his beauty before realizing the question sounded sincere. She nodded. “Sometimes… when we’re so busy… we forget the reasons we should be smiling.”

“Which are?” he asked, his voice unusually soft for this type of discussion.

“To… be alive,” she said, her heart beating too hard in fear of what he’d think.

He held her gaze so tight and long that she forgot to breathe. “Your trick worked,” he finally said, slowly leaning back against the couch again. “I’m just very practiced at controlling what I decide to be or not be. Emotions are useful, essential even, but only when governed by logic.”

---