Page | 13 Ah, so this was my fault. I did tend to be a bit formal in my speech—apparently, it had made Aisha feel like she had to do the same. “Okay, well, I’ll be more casual with you from now on.” “By all means,” said Aisha with a smile. “We are siblings, after all. I’m going to continue to address you politely, though, since you’re the head of this household.” Oh, come on. Just follow my lead, won’t you? Well, whatever. It wasn’t a bad idea for her to practice speaking formally; choosing the right tone for a given situation was a valuable social skill, after all. Still, it sounded like Aisha had interpreted my politeness to mean I wanted to keep her at arm’s length. Did everyone I’d met over the last few years feel the same way? I sort of defaulted to formal speech in all my interactions, since it felt more respectful…but maybe I ought to try out some casual banter next time I ran into an old acquaintance. “Hey, Ruijerd, how’s it hanging? You’ve really changed, man! Did ya put on some weight or what? That beard’s new too! What? You’re not Ruijerd? Damn, changed your name too? Well, good to see you’re still a grumpy jerk, at least.” …On second thought, maybe not. It’s only natural to speak politely with someone you respect, right? Just imagining trying to banter with Ruijerd or Roxy made me want to punch myself in the face. “Well, anyway… it’s good to have you both here. It might take a while for us to get used to living in the same house, but we’ll figure it out.” “Of course!” said Aisha energetically. Her enthusiasm was palpable. It reminded me of the way Pursena got when you dangled a slab of meat in front of her. I felt like Aisha would do anything I asked her to right now.