"Abominated at you, apparently."

"You Milesed!"

"Yes. I was having trouble explaining on my own, so getting Miles to do it seemed the obvious thing, he often understands my problems better than I do. I did not predict that Milesing would turn out to be an abominable action."

"Are you claiming to have Miles stuffed in one of your hemispheres sufficient to run social errands for you?"

"I've been trained to impersonate him, did you imagine I was bad at it?"

"I imagined you'd expect to pass long enough, but that wasn't passing, that was -" vague gesture.

"Aaron can't do it. He has the accent and the mannerisms but he doesn't have the - the soul. It's why Ser Galen was having such trouble deciding between us; I'm otherwise useless and much more openly rebellious, but I'm a perfect assassin and a perfect Miles."

"I see."

"D'you understand what I mean about being a terrifying abomination now?"

"No, not really. I mean, I was surprised but I'm not sure I'd go all the way to 'terrifying abomination'. 'Disconcerting irregularity?'"

Shrug. "Well, if you prefer. But that's why I try not to talk to anyone who isn't Aaron."

"D'you want me to leave you alone? I am supposed to look in on you but I could just stick my head in and not try to make conversation if you'd rather."

"Supposed to?"

"I'm not saying I would ignore you two forever if th'captain didn't want to keep track of your general whereabouts but I am saying I would not remember to visit on a daily basis."

"Mm. Well. I don't mind you talking to me."

"That's good, I wouldn't want to abominate you."

Snort.

"Where's Aaron?"

"Foraging."

"The cafeteria isn't made of thickets and woods."

Mark giggles.

Aaron is there! He is acquiring food. Actually he has already acquired the food and is most of the way through eating it. Unusual; he rarely stays out any longer than he has to.

"'Lo, Aaron, how're you?" asks Ivan, plunking next to him with a bowl of soup.

"Pretty good, and yourself?"