Nathan Free, Natalie Bound

At breakfast I listened to Elica snipping about some girl or another whose existence has scuffed Elica's self-esteem, for reasons I never quite determined. I was only paying half-attention, just enough to read the cadence and contribute an encouraging sound or a relevant question when she slowed down. "Oh no, what then?" "Oh, you're not going to let her get away with that, are you?" "Tsk, what nerve!" I found to my horror that I could run that kind of dialogue on autopilot without actually caring at all what she was saying. Years of training with small talk and casual conversations have trained me these skills thoroughly enough that I don't have to actually care at all.