"You might recall I did that before, too." ...yes, Martel, we know. You were always very scary. Nobody is questioning that, sit down. "And we did, after a fashion. I told him not to bother as I'm not even slightly interested in rehashing past history and he conceded, so I was good enough to send for a-" hesitation, "-friend to patch up what we did to each other."

He rubs his chest, absently. "The ribs took a while longer. Candice was annoyed."