Niko sighed, pulling a small tin of tobacco from his pocket, beginning to roll a cigarette as he took his time descending into the ship. He had just begun whistling 'Under Paris Skies' before pausing to seal the paper with a light lick, looking up over his glasses at the figure emerging from the shadows. Simply holding the cigarette between his index and middle finger after finishing it, casually leaning against the railing and leaving enough room for her to pass by him. "Ah, bon après-midi, officier Lehne. J'avais simplement souhaité d'être seul avec mon travail..." Niko responded, politely testing her French with a simple explanation that he simply wanted to be alone with his work. The 'officer' remark mostly referred to how he saw her as his parole officer. His expression lightened during the pause as he thoughtfully examined his work, "...Howevaer, I suppose zeh constant tests can vait. I can only get so many bread-shaped objects before ze list runs out ouf room" he sighed in comically exaggerated tragedy as he rolled his eyes.<br/><br/>Niko seemed to waver with faux indecision before bracing his other hand and its contents against his heart and biting his lip with a small 'Hrngh~' noise as he turned to go back up the stairs. "Very well. Iz close, zhough...I<span style="font-style: italic">feel</span>it!" he started after a few steps before offering the cigarette to Anne, a genuine glint of ambition dancing across his expression; truly having a love for his work which, to him, made it anything but.<br/><br/>...Perhaps the most truthful he had ever been with her about himself...this very conversation included.<br/><br/>"Do, don't or won't; I take no offence~" he chirped on the topic of his offer, continuing back up the stairwell (regardless of her response).<br/>Sometimes it seemed as though he had the vitality of a child; having been old for so long, who wouldn't give it all to bound up a flight of stairs, skipping steps without even being winded at the top.<br/>The second he turned, his expression hardened as he glanced to the watch. The 00:00:00 blinking, and with each blink, signified a second lost from consistency. He tapped the screen, telling it to restart the timer, hoping that a double-duration may yield promising results. From there, if it worked, he could work backwards...assuming the next nine double-duration tests had similar results. Otherwise it was simply lost potential, but the change to the experiment couldn't be undone, now.