writing amusements

[zephre]

Zephrene liked to watch Ethan in his silence; she felt that she had the beginnings of a grasp of his facial expressions. Here beneath the iger, on disability leave from work, with dozens of comrades dead, injured, or missing in the riot, he was pensive, even melancholy. Zephrene was certain he was thinking of the memorial services to come.
He surprised her, therefore, by muttering, "I think I left my good whetstone at headquarters."
Well, so Zephrene could read expressions but not minds. The world was doubtless better off that way. "Did you need it for something in particular?"