What had his plan been? To wait until Nettie had finished speaking with any newly-acquired friends and acquaintances, and then walk her home, or wherever else she wanted. What had he managed instead?

Ah, yes. To draw the attention of the entire room, and to earn a number of coolly-distanced looks while he was at it. He might have felt embarrassment if he had not been overwhelmed by all the other fuckery in the room right now. Such as: a certain detective, engaging Nettie in some sort of conversation.

What was he here for? Were… one of these women, were they his? A wife? Sister? He was too young to have fathered any of them. In fact, Malachi could have mistaken him for Nettie’s…

Oh God, he probably was her age!

Had it not been for Nettie’s quick attendance to him, he might have tried to dip out of the sitting room before he made things any worse. As it was, though, Malachi coughed once more – smudged the blood into the dark fabric, nearly hiding it – and composed himself after that. Setting a hand at Nettie’s shoulder, he offered her an awkward smile.

“Please, I’m fine. Just caught something in my throat.”

But not nearly enough of what he wanted in there.

Besides, there was a unique sort of embarrassment that came from having his issues aired in front of these women and… and him. Nettie was only concerned, he knew, but why did she have to mention his eating, and the church, and- oh, what did it even matter? Malachi glanced back to the others, keeping his eyes off of the detective.

“My apologies for the noise,” he said with a dip of his head. “It’s nice to meet you as well.”

He guessed. Didn’t know who she was. His focus returned to his niece, seeing as the woman took to speaking to… his handsome detective. No- no. The. The detective. The man he didn’t know, clearly, if that cruel look he’d given him had been anything to go by.

“Truly, I’m alright,” Malachi assured, voice falling to a quieter tone. “If you wanted to stay and speak with any of them, I can wait outside.”