Sally didn’t relish spending the next, who-knows-how-long, in complete silence, so she decided to at least give the man a try. “How are you doing, Decebel?” she asked.
Decebel raised a single eye brow at her. It appeared he was considering the question. It looked to Sally as if the implacable mask on his face slipped for just a moment and she saw an emotion there she didn’t recognize. Fear, perhaps?
In a flash, the mask was back. “I’m doing fine. How are you?”
“Also, fine. Are you always this reticent?”
“I am guarding this door, which means I must remain sensitive to my surroundings. It can make me seem aloof.”
Sally raised her eyebrows now. “Two complete sentences in a row? Well, I’ll be. I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say. Wow, you were actually, like, explaining yourse
