You get up the courage to ask him about the monocle dangling on the wall above his desk.

“I can see you’re wearing an eye patch…but…I was just wondering, that monocle…could I…could I borrow it?”.

The silence stretches. You can hear the clock, ticking louder than any clock in history.

Perhaps asking was a mistake. You squint at the Professor trying to better read his reaction.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick…