[As she takes his hand, he too, feels that same electricity surge through him, a pounding in his head that suddenly attacks him like he'd just been hit in the head by a well landed punch that throbbed for only a moment. It stops the minute she yanks her hand away, and he's left stunned for a second, his eyes wide with shock until he reigns himself back in quickly.

What was that? That hurt way too much for static electricity. He wonders if she did something to him, but he doesn't see anything attached to her that would hide a weapon or anything like that.

Maybe it was just a shock.]

Well, if Aether isn't back yet, perhaps I could speak to you? If you can give up a moment of your time.

[Strange happenings aside, he still has a job to do, and he doesn't necessarily need Aether to move forward with it.]

It's just a request we'll pay generously for if we can move it forward quickly. I promise it won't take too much time.