Ilde weighs that in silence for a short time, then squeezes his shoulder lightly, both a little sympathetic and slightly awkward. He's like an illustration in a book, she didn't know people like this genuinely exist anywhere, saying things like that with a straight face and sounding as if he means it. How a person is meant to respond to that, she isn't sure.

"Too much of anything can be poisonous," she says, finally, "including virtue. You should try tequila shots when you go to the bar - that poison's much more fun."

Like that, then, as she lets go of him.