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His tail swishes with cautious excitement.

Even the cutest and most dreadful of eyes can see how you drench yourself in remorse.

She was about to say something else. Something she thinks might be important.

She would. She will.

Earnest, masked with a laugh.

His eyes narrow ever so slightly as if to place your face.

A quick, apologetic smile.

He looks away from you while he decides which script to follow.

His lips ready themselves for a pretend smile.

The sound of his own voice makes him wince.

His fingers twitch like he's fighting the urge to shuffle the papers on his desk.

Not a direct answer.

Abject disappointment. Her response is all he's been thinking about since he put himself at your mercy.

That's how she was and remains for him -- a mirror of his own qualities and flaws.

The doctor overtakes the father.

Complicated subject matter.

His mask of placid indifference has begun to slip. Beneath, something warm, red, wet.

His fingers flex against the desktop, phantom palpations.

His eyes, very carefully, do not flick towards the ladder.

The silence between you is so heavy it begins to exert its own gravitational pull.

A flash of Tempo and his child-logic loyalty, bestowed upon a strictly-chosen few.

She's holding other things back from you, but this is the truth.

You glimpse him. A giant shadow, hulking behind her.

Cigarette haze cloaks her face.

As she speaks, a tiny shiver passes through her.

You have noticed her eyes avoid mirrors and windows -- anything with a pronounced reflection.

She's used to dealing with peripheral creeps, but this one's unsettled her.

That's your cue. To know what this is.

Hit, point awarded.

She was going to say another name there.

As she speaks, a tiny shiver passes through her.

You're still under consideration.

But she has stiffened slightly.

This will be a personal call.

This is her Brave Face, for your sake.

A completely different person from her upstairs version.

She's about to start machine-gunning questions.

Her face resets, unnaturally fast.

Unsteadied her, at least.

She's very good. You're better.

Obvious bait, don't take it.

The silence plan has totally backfired! Clear this up, quick!

Is it just you, or has he gotten... kind of cute?

A flash of lucidity as he takes you in.

He's genuinely delighted you said that.

He's not lying -- it was all above board. Just morally on the floor.

If there is any kind of moral conflict churning below the surface, he does not show it.

If you squint extremely hard you can imagine him heading up a negotiation table.

He's working off a memorised list.

If this guy is a master of espionage he's playing an impressive bluff.

312 skill checks - ZERO PARADES field manual - Page 3 of 7