"Then talk about him non stop to me," Jingyi says, because okay, sure, he can cry tears of boredom, but if he's honest (and he is, even when it's a bother), no one's around him often enough that their particular circling concerns and conversations can be all he does hear.

Besides, if that's who Xiao Ki wants to talk about, he'll listen. Point out the repetition, eventually, and probably unhelpfully come down to the question of how much Taiki knows of the man versus the technicality of his necessary position, but that would be a future concern. Tonight's concern is simpler.

Giving people permission to talk about the things that matter to them. Heavens, if he complained about everything, couldn't they converse on what mattered to the people he talked with, too?