"You did not underestimate me. You correctly estimated a version of me that had not yet reached the interior chambers. That version is not the version you are looking at."
"That is a very generous framing of my error."
"You are generous with your time. I am generous with my framings."
The old soul smiled, the small quiet real smile, and did not respond further. They served the soul-clarifier at the end of the meal, and the three of them drank it slowly, and Bruce felt the day's essence settle into a cleaner configuration inside him.
They paid and left.
They walked back to the rooming house in the deep blue of full evening.
Kael was quieter than usual. Theron was quieter still. Bruce was thinking.
At the door of the rooming house, Kael stopped.
"Bruce."
"Yes."
"Tomorrow, when Caelen comes."
"Yes."
"If the meeting is soon, we should have a plan for what we ask her. Not just how we handle what she asks us. If we walk in ready to ask things, we shape the meeting."
