Snort. "Welcome to Cincinnati."

"I've seen worse, in some respects."

"You're also seeing the people with the fewest options here. The most desperate. Which is why we're out here. The quiet ones don't stick in your mind, the loud idiots do."

Nod. "Will you tell me if there is more reason to move the names on my list that I do not see?"

Peer.

"I'm not aware of any reason to move these names around at this time. Oh, wait. That one. He's a frequent flyer and a drug seeker- Ah, that means he asks for medical intervention often and tries to get us to give him painkillers that will get him high. I'd bet - hundred bucks, maybe not a thousand, there's nothing wrong with his hearing. Technically I'm not supposed to share private medical information like history of painkiller use, patient confidentiality, but you relevantly count as a consulting treatment specialist."

"...it is not fun to have the spell cast. It will feel like nothing if it does nothing," blinks Blai.

"Perhaps he assumes it will have some unexpected beneficial effect. Perhaps he assumes he can substitute someone who has paid him at the last moment. Perhaps he mistakenly believes he is deaf. I try not to contemplate such a mind too much."

Blai nods and moves the name down.