[SE] Out, Damned Spot!

There it was, the reaction that Peter had been expecting. The ease of Jigano’s smile slipping away, replaced by something colder, and more pitying. He doesn’t need that, and averts his eyes quickly, jaw working in quiet upset, and something like shame. It’s irritating, even though he knew this was coming. Mention of Rexanna had him upset for an entirely different reason. The need of how far reaching that particular Plan of Zariah’s was made him quiver with nausea. ”I didn’t want that.” There isn’t steel in his voice, not like Jigano’s, but there is a sharpness to the words, an insistence, a how dare you. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the loreseekers cheer has been rapidly whicked  away. It also doesn’t take one to see the parallels of the past and present, the lines that are being implied. Truth be told, it worried Peter to think about, a second schism caused by the blind pursuit of power and magic. Years of practice made it easy for him to keep his tone light, despite his own mood souring in turn. ”Is it... something someone is uh... is studying?” Peter kept shovelling  mud into barrels, the lull in the conversation having more to do with the effort of their respective tasks than the newfound tension between them. And until that point, they had been getting along so well, at least in Peter’s opinion. He had actually been looking forward to asking more questions, leaning on Jigano for advice on how to pursue whatever his latest fixation was. But now, he just wanted to avoid the other man, at least for a bit. ”Me too, I... I was there too.” Peter remembers  the chill of her skin, the terrible sadness in her, coming from the blight, the sickness in her and around her. ”The ascended? I didn’t... I didn’t know that.” A worrying development, and one Peter would have to ask Rex about next time he was able to talk to her. The bucket that Peter had gone head over heels for was added to one of the barrels, the rest of the mud scooped up and packed away in no time. A small smile returned to his scarred face as they worked, and he could really see how much had been accomplished. The mud was being carted away, off to somewhere it would do less harm hopefully, and the entrance to the Atheneum was clear, the books within safe. As he passed the shovel back to Jigano, he smiled thinly, the other mans words sending a deep discomfort churning in Peters stomach. ”I didn’t think... I hadn’t thought about it that way.” He wasn’t necessarily sure being cut loose was what he wanted, but he tried to appreciate where the suggestion was coming from. As the last of the tools were returned to where they belonged, Peter took one last look at what they accomplished, and tried to enjoy the feeling that it left him with, rather than the feeling their conversation had left him with. He turned towards the library, intending to spend the rest of his day doing what he’d originally planned. Something made him pause though, and turned back to Jigano. ”Let me know if um... if you need help with anything else. For here.” And with that offer made, he disappeared into the building. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;