He nearly jumped out of his skin when the flashlight appeared and caught him in his spotlight. But although he couldn't see him well in the gloom behind that illumination, he recognized Hakkai's voice, forced himself to trust that it was really him and not some trick. This part of the institute was usually safe, after all. No reason to think otherwise.

"Yeah," he replied, "Just fine." But he knew he didn't sound it, and there was no way he looked it. The lie was for the sake of politeness, and the hope that maybe Hakkai wouldn't ask what was going on. He wasn't sure he could find a way to explain that wouldn't end with Hakkai knowing far more than he needed to.

Not that he wasn't already privy to some pretty big secrets.