And then you started the war, to draw us all together again. How clever.

[ He twists his played-with fingers to catch Byerly's, to fight back, and—like shoving someone who's hemming and hawing at the edge of a pier into the water—uses that both of you to shove the question out of his mouth. ]

Can I ask you something sort of silly? And then can we pretend I didn't, because I'm very self-assured and collected?