Totoka River keep the calm before the storm

He flicked an ear at Skua's remark and said, airily: Yes, a crab, maybe, but really he was conceding defeat. This was a gesture of charity that would've been unthinkable only a few months prior.

He was the type to recede into sullen silence when met with any sort of antagonism, then confess, petulant and bruised, to a confidant: "I think she hates me."

Looking at them, he was aware of their distance in age. For a prefunctory moment he realized that he might be forced into the role of babysitter. Then, correcting himself, he realized he might be forced out of the conversation altogether.

Pier, he responded. Pier Montanari.

Not that he minded too much.