usually nikola liked to think he was rather aware of the world around him, all things considered. he had to take care not to come into accidental contact with people, after all, and who knew. at his height he was probably likely to bust his forehead on the chin of someone infinitely bigger and scarier.

threats from below, usually not so much, but with his eyes on the ground and earbuds in he just didn't see her coming at him. he didn't know which of them it was worse for.

of course, at that very moment his immediate reaction was a startled yelp, shoved right into the chair with no resistance whatsoever - his mismatched eyes were wide in what could only be described with 'mild terror', on her face and then flicking to her hand on his wrist. his now-bare wrist, the fabric having ridden up with his sudden switch to a seated position.

oh no oh no no nonono "nononono," breathless, his other hand very carefully removing her hand from his arm without direct skin contact. "i'm sorry, miss, but..." even through his nervous, slightly harried tone, the accented roundness to his consonants was clear. "you shouldn't be touching me, please. it's not very safe for you."

immediate crisis averted he dared to let his gaze flick back up to her face, a slow bite of his lip as he tried to recall what she'd said when she'd first violently accosted him. "i am fine? i - oh. the..." rather than filling in the rest of the sentence, he simply gestured vaguely at his hair and face. "albino. nothing fatal, i assure you..."

... he was so confused.

people finding his appearance strange was normal, but people being so startled and literally pushing him over? her announcement that he 'looked weird' simply prompted a glance at the floor, even as he slid up the sleeve on the arm she'd touched gently. "i... yes. i know. it's not serious, though, just some problems with my eyes."

surreptitiously he ran the pad of his thumb over the delicate spinnerets, checking for damage. nothing seemed out-of-place, just a little sore, and he delicately picked away a little blob of webbing stuck to his skin.

"you aren't the first to find me strange-looking... although, i've never been... forced to sit down because of it before..."

and then she held her hand out at him like he was supposed to do something. it took a full second of bemused staring at it and slowly easing his sleeve down for the realisation to click - handshake, right. "... nikola. i'm sorry, but i don't... i don't shake hands unless - i told you, miss... bianca, yes? you shouldn't touch me. you could get sick." and it'd be a shame, because she seemed so genuinely nice. terrifyingly gung-ho, yes, but nice. if she stopped trying to put her hands all over him she might even be less terrifying, who knew? "it's... a side-effect of my abilities, they're... not very safe."

that was an understatement. the last thing he wanted was to be some sort of one-man disaster sweeping through campus.

"it's alright, just a little misunderstanding... i came for some tests, so you were half-right. m-may i -" he gave a tiny little gesture towards her, "... get up now?"

the light actually prompted a pained noise, his head jerking away from her, a clear wince on his face. "please don't -!" covering his eyes with a hand, he just kept his eyes closed for a moment. and here nikola had been thinking his visit to the wellness centre had been going so well. now, here was a girl grabbing him and touching him and near-blinding him. "m-miss, one of the problems is that they're... very sensitive to light..."

he almost hated to tell her off, but it was going to be disastrous for both of them otherwise.

taking his hand away from his slightly watering eyes and blinking rapidly to clear the spots from his vision, he just tried to focus on her face as she spoke. "no, it's not... it's not that it makes me sick, it's that it makes o-" and he'd been trying to stand up as he spoke and move away, but now she was holding his hand, the tear-contaminated one, and he was so alarmed he let out a little cry and yanked it right out of her grasp. "i'm poisonous," he told her, tone a combination of urgent and worried. "please, you have to go and wash your hands right now." he was wringing his own, now, his entire body language nervous. "even if your cells recover quickly, it'll only mean you go through the full toxicosis quickly rather than over days. please."

poison from his hands? he looked down at them, one pale brow slightly raised. how, exactly, would he -

then again, he was able to actively spin fibres out of protein that came out of his wrists. maybe that wasn't such a stupid question. "n-no, it's... in my body, so... everything i touch ends up with traces on it..." she didn't really seem to get it, though, and he was still really... confused.

"... 'spider-chan'? what is a spider chan-?" he didn't have the faintest clue what she meant by that, but he didn't really have time to learn, because she was ignoring his warnings again and -

the moment her lips touched his cheek he had to bodily push her away with a shout, a sharp "no!", just reeling a little. "i told you, no, i could get in a lot of trouble if you get ill..." looking rather panicked, he dropped his bag on the chair and rummaged in it hurriedly for his outdoor gloves, yanking them on before he grabbed the rucksack in one hand and bianca's arm in the other. "you have to-" he paused to orient himself, starting to tug her toward the nearest bathrooms. "just... please."

"i keep trying to explain! but you're not listening to me!" and honestly he was getting more and more worried, because the less she listened the more agitated he got and he could feel himself flushing, his cheeks hot. and with that he'd only sweat and if she kept touching him -

mind racing, he let out a sharp puff of breath and tried again. "my entire body is toxic. when you touch me, you're getting it on your skin." he could hear his accent getting gradually stronger the faster he spoke, which wasn't helping, and he just dragged fingers back through his hair in agitation. "getting it on your skin means you could absorb it, or if you put your fingers in your mouth you'll swallow it. you're going to -"

and now she was feeling unwell, which prompted an icy clench in his chest. helping her sit slowly, a hand gentle at her elbow, he just rubbed his face. "sranje," he cursed softly, looking around like a solution would just walk up to him. "i... i don't know that i can help. you might feel a little faint, a little like being sick... definitely very warm and generally unwell. i'm... sorry." his gaze slid to the floor, somewhere in the region of bianca's shoes. "i tried to say, but... i can get you some water from down the hall, if you'd like...?"

and really, even though he was certain it was her fault, he felt terrible.

"y-yes, that's... about it... you really need to wash it off, you could absorb it through your skin..." and as much as he felt like he was repeating himself over and over, she didn't seem to be grasping that this was serious. "the toxin isn't serious enough that there's antivenom just lying around, but, um..." he fished in the bag again, coming up with a small blister pack of antihistamine tablets and offering it to her. "these are supposed to help. taking one or two should work..."

but now she was panicking, and he turned his head to look at where she was focusing -

oh. oh, no.

he felt blindly for one of the chairs, but they were already starting to rise into the air, and he was starting to feel curiously light... he settled for desperately trying to slow his ascent by flattening his hands against the wall. "what's going on?!"