"There's no need to play coy, Kurt. I was standing nearby and happened to hear your exchange with the Pope. 'Strange doctor,' was it?"
"Ah…" Kurt placed a single finger over his lip. "Keep that between us, Faye. She's what the Japanese call a tsundere. If she finds out I orchestrated her miraculous recovery, she'll probably beat me half to death for disappearing on her, and then again out of embarrassment."
"A tsundere? Japanese? Are you perhaps a scholar of ancient Myrian history?"
"Something like that."
With a smile, Faye smoothly shifted the momentum of the conversation.
"Regarding the favor I asked of you... have you given it a proper thought?"
'Aw shit. Here we go.'
"... I have. And I have an answer for you."
"Perfect." She glanced around the garden, looking for a private place to speak. "Follow me. There is a private gazebo just around the bend where we can speak without lingering eyes."
