but thanks for asking

Loopy is at her desk. I'm at mine. We are about four feet apart through the wall, so we can hear sounds pretty clearly, but words are only semi-intelligible.

She is presumably studying for her prelim, which she has been doing for days and days without a break, and will do for days and weeks and months to come. She blogs about the panic that this process entails, and lately her eyelid has been twitching uncontrollably. I feel sorry for her but there's not a whole lot I can do to help.

After three hours of silence, I hear a soft sound that concerns me. After a minute I decide to "give her a shout" (literally).

Me: "Are you crying?"

Loopy: "No, yawning..." (laughs) "Yeah, right, I'm in here sobbing uncontrollably over my laptop."

Me: "Well, it would be uncharacteristic, but you know, this whole prelim thing..."

Loopy: (laughs again) "Yeah. Right." (Pause. Laugh.) "Well, thanks for asking."

Me: "Hey, that's my job."