school: molly

[shaft]

Comments

[headmt]

A somewhat loaded question.

[Now he's just playing coy on purpose.]

Mollymauk Tealeaf. Molly to my friends.

[shaft]

I'll treasure this knowledge, Mollymauk.

[ He makes a show at holding a hand to his heart. ]

You can ask me one question in return.

[headmt]

[Wow . . . the prince is so generous.]

Sure. How far are you [putting on a snooty school voice.] willing to go to reach your goal?

[It doesn't seem like he's expecting a serious answer.]

[shaft]

[ That's good, because he's not going to get one when Claude smiles and says, ] To hell and back.

[headmt]

At least you're planning to head back from hell. Got to have goals.

[That seems good enough to him!]

[shaft]

Of course, I'm not noble enough to sacrifice myself and rot in hell while everyone else has a good time.

[ He lies back against the floor, not minding the way the back of his shirt gets wet. ]

I think that sort of thing deserves a vacation, don't you?

[headmt]

[Nodding along, nodding along. That all seems very reasonable to him.]

Going to hell and back? I should think so. You think this is your vacation?