"Aaaugh? Is that in character?"

"Not - it probably wouldn't be to someone horrible and it probably somehow wouldn't make me miserable and I have no idea how that'd possibly be accomplished and this is perhaps why it hasn't happened yet but if he saw a way to get me to stay and not want to die all the time he probably would."

"Out of concern for - your final reward, the reputation of the family, Abadar's choices -"

"Ever getting to see me, thinking I could achieve important things with my life if I tried, weird risks from me careening around independently? Worse than death, I mean."

"...what in the world are you going to achieve hanging around in the Dome?"

"Well, if I had opinions on the slavery reforms, I could've injected them, probably."

"Is that how that works? Is there a suggestion box?"

"Lotsa meetings. You can attend them. Say things. I'm not actually good at talking. Out here, sure, where I'm lying most of the time and no one's judging me and the standards are low -"

"So not really a big lever you're passing up there."

"I don't think so. The pharaoh's probably unimpressed with 'shoot things with arrows' as a lever."

"Of course. You ever try to lift something by sticking a lever under it and opening fire?"

"Sort of! In a trapped corridor in a tomb we were robbing. We were trying to get a wooden door which had on our side of it been covered with metal to catch fire."

"Pfft! Did that work?"

"Not at first but we got it eventually using oil."

"Gaps in the metal?"

"Yeah."

"Congratulations. Assuming it turns out that was a wise thing to do and didn't just set off a million traps."

"We got what we came for and got out in one piece."

Fazil wakes up. Glances at them, raises an eyebrow slightly.

"Morning," she says, switching back to Osirian.

"Good morning. Trouble sleeping?"

"I slept fine but without regard for the sun, which I'd rather see less of anyway."

With some effort he does not smile. He glances at Hagan, who raises his hands defensively.

"After three rounds of unsupervised conversation I was going to fall in love but then she started making fun of amputees for being asymmetrical and muttering at Fy that she'd eat her at our wedding and that snapped me right out of it."

"You ever eaten snake? It's pretty good!"