~ September 10, 2036 ~ Awesome Flat

Chris grinned at her enthusiasm. “Danke,” he replied earnestly but also sharing her elation. Not unlike being onstage, the enthusiasm seemed to energize the wizard. He would have to get on the people in the side project about finding a way to thank Lara as a group... the ideas were virtually limitless, though with her family being rich they’d have to make sure they didn’t repeat a gift or something. It’d be slightly tricky, but Chris felt confident they could pull it off.

Seeing Lara saddened at what he had been intending to be a joke made the German youth raise an eyebrow in concerned curiosity. Was there something here he just wasn’t getting? For the sake of seeing his friend happy, Chris dropped the subject when she trailed off. Instead, he placed a hand on her shoulder with a firm grip. A loose grip would’ve indicated a non-verbal farewell, but a firm grip in “Chris Voss-ese” was meant to be reassuring... or something along the lines of that. The contact was used for various things; it was generally the receiver’s choice to interpret that as they wish.

The light laugh from his friend about Jason’s mother made him feel a bit better – not so responsible for causing the sadness on her face moments prior. “Not a problem,” he murmured quietly, reciprocating the farewell hug. “Danke; I’ll be sure to come and visit. You and Vill are always welcome to join the band as well.”

He couldn’t help but still find Will’s behavior strange. Chris remained quiet for a few moments after Lara’s question, not sure what to say or do except remain in the casual embrace. When the radio was turned on, and the volume cranked up, Chris figured Lara got her answer, more or less. He didn’t like it, despite how much he sometimes did that same thing to his younger siblings, but hey. If Will didn’t want to see him, that was his business. Had he known it was aimed just as much to Lara as it was at him, Chris would’ve had quite a bit to say to defend her.

“Es ist o.k. …” he said, pulling out of the embrace with Lara. “Er braucht nicht, mich zu sehen.”

Leaning towards the door, Chris knocked in attempt to get Will’s attention. “Vill... Ich sehe Sie später, o.k.?” he called, not realizing until well after the fact he’d done so in German. Vaguely the wizard wondered if his friend knew German, considering Lara and her family spoke in the language from time to time. It seemed to him one of the other professors also spoke a great deal of German... Professor DeLanquar, if he recalled correctly.

“I don’t know how much Deutsche he knows... but I’ll see you both later,” Chris translated, albeit unnecessarily, and laughed lightly at his ignorance of such input.

“Take care. I’ll be at Jason’s if you need anything,” he said, smiling, before heading toward the newly-fixed door.