[ He laughs. That’s what he gets for giving her choices. And for making one of them a hard question. ]
How I realized I liked him—
[ Different from loved, thank the Maker. ]
We are old, you know, and we have known each other for a long time. It happened by inches. I thought he was handsome when I first saw him. Only handsome, though. The sort of places I spent time in back then—it was not unusual for the children of nobles to wander through for a year or two while they were avoiding their great burdens. [ Touch of sarcasm there. ] I liked to tell them lies and take their money. I assumed he was like them.
The first time we played together—music, I mean—that is how I realized he was interesting. I didn't expect him to be able to keep up with me, but he was better than I was. He still is. You should go listen to him play in Lowtown sometime, if you haven't, he's really—
[ He stops and puts himself back on track. ]
And then it turned out he was poorer than I was and not anything like the awful company he was keeping. I liked him plenty then. But he was in love with someone else. And so was I.
no subject
How I realized I liked him—
[ Different from loved, thank the Maker. ]
We are old, you know, and we have known each other for a long time. It happened by inches. I thought he was handsome when I first saw him. Only handsome, though. The sort of places I spent time in back then—it was not unusual for the children of nobles to wander through for a year or two while they were avoiding their great burdens. [ Touch of sarcasm there. ] I liked to tell them lies and take their money. I assumed he was like them.
The first time we played together—music, I mean—that is how I realized he was interesting. I didn't expect him to be able to keep up with me, but he was better than I was. He still is. You should go listen to him play in Lowtown sometime, if you haven't, he's really—
[ He stops and puts himself back on track. ]
And then it turned out he was poorer than I was and not anything like the awful company he was keeping. I liked him plenty then. But he was in love with someone else. And so was I.