He knew Eli was having it bad just as much as Rush was. Only the older scientist was better at hiding his feelings. Matt could still tell though, he knew both of them lost people they cared about. It was okay to show emotion when you were upset, just not let it control your life. Thats the military taught him to always put on a brave face, keep the pain inside. But for Matt he found no harm in a little show of sorrow. As long as the work got done and nothing changed to dramatically then what was the harm.
Rush showed no signs of pain, and let himself go about his daily life as if nothing had changed. Perhaps that was his coping method, every dealt with tragedy in different ways, and keeping your feelings locked away certainly was a method.
Eli however he noticed a lot was different. The spring in his step gone, the glint in his eyes, the enthusiasm all gone. It was like over night something had suddenly taken Eli in his sleep and replaced him with this droid of no emotion. Perhaps it would help to talk to someone. No this wasn’t his business he wasn’t a shrink. He shouldn’t be worrying about this. Yet he was, and he couldn’t shake the feeling.
The colonel had been looking for Eli to do some calculations when he couldn’t locate him he sent Scott to find him. It would seem he did a better job at finding people. Where would Eli be though, it was unlike him not to show up on time for things. He searched his room, the mess, the rec room, even the control interface. Eli was no where to be found.
It was when he was passing by the docking bay that the idea struck him. Opening the door he peered inside and their was Eli sitting all alone. He made a move to step inside, but was stopped quickly by Eli’s words.
“I’m not here to tell you what you can’t do Eli. Believe me. But young’s looking for you. He sent me on a hunt to find you” When he realized his words were probably too harsh for the situation at hand he decided to try for a different approach.
“Do you want to talk about it?”