Heidi watched Peter sit beside her. She hoped that she wasn't required to make conversation. The best action to take would be to say nothing anmd act cold so that he quickly learns how she's going to act every other time they meet. Heidi did not want to have to deal with a complex social situation (every social situation to her is complicated) and was content to carry on with silence, but then he directly asked her a question; "Is this how he always is?"

Heidi's heart started beating faster. Which route should she take now? Not answering at all would be rude and would paint her as unfriendly, and while her brain knew that would be the cleanest conclusion, her heart didn't want people thinking those things about her any more than they probably already do. That said, it was clear that she needed to answer him.

That decided, how should she answer him? Mumble a monosyllabic answer, again, painting her as a little bit of an unfriendly loner? Should she smile and chat, which will make the best impression but require her to keep up that kind of behaviour with him? What should she do?

She recalled the advice Lightsmith had given her about what happens when she starts to panic like this; she just had to turn her brain off and start speaking.



All of the above happened in the blink of an eye, before she outwardly huffed in disapproval of Nightcrawler's actions. "Pretty much," she said quietly. "You eventually get used to it and ignore it."