“Oh? Like what?” He’s smiling a little bit again.

"Apparently once he told me he loved me I should stop being anxious that he's going to leave me and find someone better."

That earns a pronounced wince of sympathy. “Wow. Um. I assume you got that, uh, figured out, but still.”

"Uh? Sort of? Mostly I stopped bringing it up."

Asher is dead, he is dead and there is no point in saying anything. 

“Ooooo....kay!” 

"Well, bringing it up didn't help. --Thank you."

“I mean, it’s really no problem. Is there, uh, anything else I can do to help?”

"I feel like I've burdened you enough. Since, uh, I am your boss."

“Oh. Yeah, I. Guess that’s true.”

"I was thinking of reading a statement out loud again today, if you have time to spot me."

“Sure! Sure, yeah, I can do that. The same one you read last time, or one of the new ones? —Or, I think Tim just finished follow-up on a statement if you want a really new one.”

"I was about to say 'I could compare the effect of an old one and a really new one' but you might glare at me. Well, no you wouldn't, but you should. Your best self would."

Lev is so cute when he smiles. “Hey! I would only glare at you about it if you did it without thinking about it for a while first. Unless my best self objects to everything about Artefact Storage? Which I guess it might, if it didn’t need to keep this job.”

"Iiiii think your best self likes me specifically and does not want me to turn into a statement zombie."

(Aaaaaaaaaa!!!)

”...Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”

He sits on his desk. "...Actually I really shouldn't be involved in the process of deciding whether to read statements at all."

“Oh. Um, I am... pretty sure Elias would be better at getting me to do things than he would be at convincing you, though? Unless we’ve changed our minds about whether to assume he’s trying to mind control you? We could ask Tim or Sasha, I guess.”

"Well. Having your judgment fucked with by only Elias is an advantage over having it fucked with by Elias and also mysterious supernatural beings."

"...You could think about how much you don't want me to be a statement zombie."

“I could! Just, not obeying my boss is... hard? So if you wanted a statement and he said to give it to you I would have to think very hard about how much I do not want you to become a statement zombie.”

"...would it help if I told you that I really really don't want to be a statement zombie and so technically by telling me 'no' you're doing what I want you to do. --I guess Elias is, uh, also your boss. So maybe that doesn't help."

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, it absolutely helps that your response to being told no is ‘oh good’! I’m getting better at calling you out. I think.”

"...I guess if I really do need to be told 'no' my answer is going to be something like 'aaaaaaaa no please let me I need it.'"

“Yeah, and I would probably be much worse at saying no to that! Or maybe better, since it’d be more obvious that you need to be told no? I’m not sure but I’m also not particularly inclined to risk it.”

"Well, either way, you and me both having to approve of it seems like an improvement on only me."