QUOTE : You see, humans shrunk themselves when talking. Traditionally, one must succumb to the correspondence of politeness and must be careful not to step over anyone’s toes. This meant nodding your head at rather unthoughtful, sporadic moments, raising your voice an octave, and repeating the last few words a person said to assure them that you were respectfully listening. Everyone shrunk, but she kept. If she did not want to listen, Soriah would tell you. If she didn’t know what you were saying, she’d stop you and ask you to repeat yourself. Many people didn’t like that. It was a difficult, naked territory to be in—to be told by someone they weren’t listening to you, but she was a conversational nudist. Soriah withstood the awkwardness of confrontation, the nervousness of acknowledgment, and lived in it, and almost enjoyed it. Even if you tried, no preparation could ever prepare you in a conversation with her. She was point-blank. Her beauty was that of a certain wildness and her choice of conversation was just as predictable as the heartbeat in your chest in which she too controlled.