(no subject)

[thirty]

There's something to be said for the division of efforts. Not necessarily something positive mind you. Sound military strategy in some circumstances, I'm told, but far more questionable from an economic perspective. Too many irons in the fire, hm? The outer limitations of growth and the scarcity of labour resources and all that.

A bit of focus, then, for a moment, please. Four across. Eight letters. "Like a waif." Something something M something something E something S.

Comments

[antimatter]

[ Homeless, eh? Well, he's certainly not the only one. ] There are certainly far less savory things to be compared to. [ When Alice smiles it's with her mouth and her eyes, both. A bright, dazzling sort of attentiveness. ] Shall we form a club?

[thirty]

A club for waifs, do you mean? [ Freddie pauses to give it consideration. This lasts long enough for him to blink twice, quickly, and then he's drawing in breath and opening his mouth again. ] Seems a contradiction in terms, almost, given that waifs are meant to be the forsaken and unwanted of society. Hard to be unwanted when you're sipping Hendrick's and complaining about your lot in life with other like-minded individuals. [ And yet, just as soon as Freddie has voiced this opinion, he's shrugging and carrying on, with barely a pause to denote the shift in perspective. ] But how am I to deny waifs their right to free association?

[antimatter]

[ Alice looks briefly affronted, though it's a delighted kind of offense, each half of the expression being a different sort of affectation, the both coming together to form a more sincere expression of bemusement. ] Do I strike you as a Hendrick's girl? [ Despite it being a facetious question, Alice manages to sound genuinely concerned. But then she's smiling again, not quite wide enough to show teeth. ] Oh, I do believe we've gotten off on the wrong the foot.

[thirty]

Have we? [ It's a genuine question. Freddie's not so good at judging these things. Good at seeing people: the parts they want to hide, the secrets they don't want to tell, the motivations that drive them. But ask him to judge what people think of him, how people will react to the things he says, and he rarely gets it right. ] Honestly, I hadn't noticed.

[antimatter]

[ Now it's Alice's turn for her interest to pique, the expression on her face still short of earnest but betraying a kind of curiosity nevertheless. ] And what had you noticed? [ Because Alice knows surely he has. ]