That it is difficult for you to be comfortable with someone again once they have accused you of something awful, that you were telling the truth about your job, that it was significant for you to tell her about it at all and you felt brushed off by her response.
[ He finishes not-quite-all of the hot chocolate—some can be cold chocolate in a few more minutes, also good—and sets it aside to retrieve some already-rolled cigarettes from his desk. ]
She asked me for advice on getting people to talk about themselves more recently. You could be good practice.
I have told her all of that before. [ Well - ] At least the latter two things.
[ But... ]
But I suppose it might come better from you. Don't go out of your way, though. I've no doubt that you've better things to do with your time than wrestling donkeys.
[ Perhaps there will be hats at his birthday, to make sure his is properly appreciated before it falls out of style. But he doesn't explain, because he'll have to confer with the committee, and now he's busy watching the smoke ring ascend until it falls apart. ]
[ Ouaip, really, of course. Much more sophisticated. He gives the tip of Byerly's nose a parting wiggle, slapped or not, before he lets go.
But karma is swift: when he makes an attempt at the same trick, he winds up sort of snorting and sort of coughing and definitely not closing any loops. ]
—I have always found smoking best enjoyed simply. [ Primly, in his Nobleman Voice. ] Gimmicks and tricks only distract, and this tobacco is [ average at best ] too fine to waste on nonsense.
On the contrary, [ interrupted by a better but imperfect smoke ring, ] this tobacco was watered with wine and raised in weather so perfect it will be another age before we have its equal.
[ Another tic mark for the tally of moments in this experiment that have required self-control—in this case, not to take transient pleasures and run. ]
They are the only point, my good Bah. It is everything else that lacks one.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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It's absurd.
Anyway. ]
Do you want me to talk to her? I won't say a word if you don't want me to.
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[ He finishes not-quite-all of the hot chocolate—some can be cold chocolate in a few more minutes, also good—and sets it aside to retrieve some already-rolled cigarettes from his desk. ]
She asked me for advice on getting people to talk about themselves more recently. You could be good practice.
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[ But... ]
But I suppose it might come better from you. Don't go out of your way, though. I've no doubt that you've better things to do with your time than wrestling donkeys.
[ He holds out a hand for a cigarette. ]
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[ He hands one over, followed by holding out the convenient and hitherto unmentioned candle already lit on his desk, and belatedly asks: ]
Wrestling donkeys—a Fereldan pastime?
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This is a brand-new, never-before-heard metaphor. Though maybe I could get it started.
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[ They do not seem helpful.
Bastien tries and fails to blow a smoke ring—for lack of recent practice. He might get the next one. ]
Do you still have the hat?
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I do.
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[ Perhaps there will be hats at his birthday, to make sure his is properly appreciated before it falls out of style. But he doesn't explain, because he'll have to confer with the committee, and now he's busy watching the smoke ring ascend until it falls apart. ]
Show-off.
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Ha, you bastard -
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[ Ouaip, really, of course. Much more sophisticated. He gives the tip of Byerly's nose a parting wiggle, slapped or not, before he lets go.
But karma is swift: when he makes an attempt at the same trick, he winds up sort of snorting and sort of coughing and definitely not closing any loops. ]
—I have always found smoking best enjoyed simply. [ Primly, in his Nobleman Voice. ] Gimmicks and tricks only distract, and this tobacco is [ average at best ] too fine to waste on nonsense.
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Don't be absurd, Berz. There's always more where that came from.
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[ And now the affected tones of a haughty university student. ]
But pleasures, they are so transient. So what is the point of them?
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They are the only point, my good Bah. It is everything else that lacks one.