"Sure."

"Are you going to want to come with, when we leave in a couple weeks?"

"Yeah. I thought that was obvious."

"I was trying to change the subject but couldn't actually think of anything."

"Oh. Valid, I guess."

"I don't want to - I don't know how to not hurt you. Or most people but most people can get away from me."

"I guess that makes sense. I'd offer advice but I think most people tend to just hurt each other, sometimes."

"I know someone who usedta not. Just really good at always knowing the right thing to say."

"Sounds useful. Used to?"

"His father died and he inherited a big household - lots of investments, lots of employees, lots of slaves - and it turns out no amount of being clever with words makes it work, then.''

I mean, by most standards he's very good at it, it's prospering, people speak well of him, but he's not doing - the thing I thought was neat."

Nod.

"But I still don't mean to - 

- I liked talking with you, the time we did that. Not in - I don't mean anything I'm not saying -" He kicks a loose cobblestone, then hisses in pain and starts limping. "Never mind."

She tries not to laugh at him and mostly but not completely succeeds. "Well. I'm glad. I was gonna thank you for it, but then it seemed - weird."

"It bothered me that we immediately started acting like it hadn't happened but - I'd have been being very rude, right, suggesting that I - knew you now, or something -"

Shrug. 

" - it's like - we know each other a little better, right? But it's - I dunno, in Cheliax people don't - 

" - I guess maybe when you're just getting to maybe start being friends with someone you don't really - announce it, I guess, it's - reckless, I guess, to be that open about everything you might care about, in front of everyone all the time. Maybe. I'm not explaining this well."

"People will - sense vulnerability?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

"That doesn't make sense to me but I gather the Osirian thing doesn't make sense to you, so."

"Yeah. I guess they're probably leaning on things that people don't know how to actually talk about, or something."

"The norms where I grew up are actually a bit different than in Sothis. Spent a lot of time trying to - not be stepping on people all the time by accident, and then I had to learn an entirely different way to do it."

Nod.

"I'm sorry you're stuck here."

"...thanks. I'm sorry I'm not - better at it, I guess."

"You're really pretty good at it, you just - give off this impression that we might as well have a sword at your throat. Which - I'm sorry, I'm not trying to criticize you for that, that's a perfectly fair way to feel -"

"Feels a little less like that than it did. I guess."