[ Alec's fingers twitch where they're suspended, an abortive attempt at closing into defensive fists that sends a grimace over his still paled face.

This is a less than ideal position, which is annoying. Alec's plans for tonight had revolved around kicking back and relaxing after a day packed with hassles. Dealing with killer cacti, creepy meat puppets, and being kidnapped and mindwiped is inarguably a full slate of problems. Adding fending off some smiling woman after getting dropkicked into a mental deep fat fryer is a bit much. ]

You can't.

[ He stares flatly at the back of his right hand and experiments with flexing his thumb. The full implications of his predicament are starting to present themselves, and he likes absolutely none of them. ]

It's a nerve thing. It'll fix itself. [ Eventually. ] Probably interference from whatever hit me, threw my power off. You're lucky I didn't make you piss yourself.

[ Lying about the backlash comes easily. He's not advertising his biggest weakness to a stranger, however helpful she's pretending to be.

Thinking about how he's going to have to hole up for a few days, drink out of the tap, fumble around his hotel room and hope that nothing happens in all that time - it's a tight, itchy, cornered sort of frustration. The last thing he needs is anyone knowing the extent of how vulnerable he is like this. ]

It doesn't bother me. You're the one wasting your own time.