[shit.]

[she's not that drunk, is she? christ. she's not crying but there's the tingle in her nose and she can see the corner of her eye getting a little blurry. no, dammit, she's not gonna cry in front of someone who's, like, a decade younger than her and also royalty. but she'll at least allow herself the vulnerability, the knowledge that she wants to.]

[she clears her throat ungracefully and pulls her hand back slowly, then wipes at her eye for what she's going to pretend is an unrelated reason.]

Yeah, well. 's one of a whole list of things I never got from them, so. Thanks. [hoo boy. dammit, atreides.] And thanks for thinking I'm all right at reading people, too. Always had problems with it, but, you know. Just kind of... try to say what's in my heart, or whatever the fuck's inside here anymore, and see what happens from there.

And if the words of the guy who put out an album called I Get Wet can help you out? [she fixes him with a smile from one side of her mouth, again almost like she's embarrassed to say it.] Well, hell. Works for me. Be sure to hit me up if you ever need more inspiration from, you know. A culture that I guess has been dead for a while, when you're from.