Judging by her expression, it was definitely possible she'd noticed the mismatch between his story about himself and the reality of things.

He skimmed the pages of the book, guiltless.

"It's really amazing in here, isn't it? My brother accidentally burned his lab down and has been sharing mine for months. He's kind of taken the place over, but I guess that's fair since he actually knows what he's doing."

Nova scanned the space for a bit of disarray that might pass for the mess he'd described earlier, but couldn't find anything, so he hid his annoyance with a sigh.

"He tries to help me by cleaning things, but then I can't find them again."