"I do a flawless Miles. Another point of congruence."

"I bet that's weird for his wife."

"It was, yes."

"Especially if you then proceeded to make that face at her."

"That would be kind of you," he says.

"Okay. Sorry."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Any time you need me to stop volunteering unsolicited impolite judgments on what your face is doing, I'm on it. Part of the Slayer skill set along with backflips and super-healing."

...He laughs.

"And spectacular wit."

"I noticed that part."

"That one I actually had before I activated. The backflips were new, though. First thing I noticed was that I stopped tripping all the time."

"Tripping all the time is not a problem Linyabel faces as far as I can tell."

"And she's also prettier, to hear you tell it."

"Extensive genetic engineering will do that."

"Will extensive genetic engineering also do gracefulness?"

"Probably."

"What do you know about her? I realize you haven't had tons of social contact, but..."

"Best known for inventing a moderately revolutionary computing device called a holo-pen. Very fond of her husband. She scoops him up. It's very cute, unless, for example, you are trying to impersonate him at the time and have a previously undiscovered paralyzing fear of affectionate physical contact."

"I am working on it," he says. "But yes, I'm glad of that too."

"How do you come by a paralyzing fear of affectionate physical contact?"

"I'm sure my childhood was at fault somehow. The complete lack of it is the most obvious possible cause, but there are others."