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He shrugged, curiosity sliding across his face before vanishing. “It’s nothing special.”
“Are you kidding me? I’d pay a lot of money to feel this all the time.”
His brow wrinkled. “It’s not a service I sell.”
“You should. I’m buying. How do you do it?”
Talyn looked away, and Sinead felt his hand flex under hers as if he wanted to pull it back.
“Please, I haven’t felt this calm for ages. I’d love to know more.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he said quietly.
Sinead sucked in a breath. “Does it hurt you?”
He looked back at her and licked his lips. “No. It feels really nice. You feel different when we touch.”
She smiled. “Can you teach me how to feel so calm and quiet?”
He snorted. “Your mind is a frantic mess. It would take the rest of your life to achieve even a modicum of this.”
A slither of disappointment ran through Sinead. It felt so weird. All the noise and chatter in her head had gone. She was so used to having dozens of questions teaming through her mind and conflicting possibilities jostling with each other. And there was that other voice, her mom’s voice, always there, always flinging out sayings and comments. It was also gone. Sinead was left with her own thoughts, and that was a little terrifying.
“This must be a unique skill you have,” Sinead said.
“I’ve worked hard to achieve this level of quiet,” Talyn said.
Sinead nodded as comprehension filled her. “You have that little devil sitting on your shoulder as well?”
He frowned at her, and his dark eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”
She tapped the side of her head. “These wonderful brains we have. They come with the unfortunate side-effect of introspection. My mom always used to say it was a chattering devil. There’s always that voice niggling, telling you to do bad things or saying you aren’t good enough.”
Talyn nodded slowly. “Similar to that. I have everyone else’s little devils worming into my head.”
“Oh, I think I understand.”
“I doubt that very much.” Talyn yanked his hand from under Sinead’s, taking the coffee with him.
The noise in her head returned, and she grimaced. It felt horribly loud after experiencing such peace. “I’d still like to learn how you do it. I might not be able to make myself as calm as you made me, but it would be bliss not to spend two hours a night hearing old conversations playing over and over or that annoying tune that keeps repeating.” It would also be lovely not to hear her mom’s constant assessment of how she was doing. If Sinead could turn that off, get some decent sleep, and make decisions without her mom’s influence weighing on her, that would be incredible.
“My ability is nothing special. I choose to block out the noise; that’s all. Every Lillip can do the same.” Talyn downed half of his coffee, and his fingers tapped on the top of the table again.
“What do you think?”
He glanced at her. “Of what?”
“The Colombian beans. They pack a punch.”
Talyn studied the mug. “It’s not unpleasant.”
Sinead pursed her lips. Those beans were outstanding and had the highest percentage of caffeine in a single shot. “Have you been asleep at all since you arrived?”
“No, as you say, new place, I don’t sleep well.” He looked away again.
Sinead wasn’t certain, but she didn’t think Talyn was being truthful. And when she looked at him closely, it wasn’t just last night’s lack of sleep on his face. This guy was exhausted, kept awake by stimulants and sheer will. What could make him not want to sleep?
“Are you missing home?”
