"You have a lot of nerve, lying to me and then acting put upon that I tried to get even."

"That's one of my personal qualities! But also you're incredibly confusing!"

"I find you confusing, too! Who lies about bells?"

"You have humans! Rumors of human idiom could conceivably have reached your ears even if you consider them exotic pets!"

"Mortals lie a lot until you teach them to stop. It's not less bad because it's familiar."

"I have had plenty of opportunities to observe that you're not deaf. I was obviously not trying to deceive you into believing there were bells."

"I take it that's the only reason you can think of why it might be bad to lie to someone."

"...assuming you are, in fact, clear on the fact that I was obviously not trying to deceive you into believing there were bells, yes, pretty much, how are you doing on reasons it might be bad to physically batter people?"

"Violence against people you're indebted to is wrong."

"How many bells before I qualify for basic rights?"

"I want the feast."

"Then do I get to talk without getting kicked?"

"I won't kick you."

"That's very specific."

"It's what you asked."

"I should probably stop relying on anything to do with your grasp of conversational implicature."

"It's not my decision what to do with you anyway, not at this point. It's my court's."

"Oh?"

"I don't think they expected this to work or I'd have had instructions in the first place."

"Oh?"

"With mortals everything's planned out and there are people who know how to do it smoothly. I've only ever watched. They get them every time."

"How?"

"That's secret. ...I guess you could ask the one we've got now."

"Maybe I will."

"You still have to eat something so you can see the paths."