That looks nice, there. Coffee and ale’s never done it for me, but I’ve picked up a taste for tea, and I can sort of reimagine these other drinks as hot chocolate, with or without whipped cream… yyyaw-haw-haw… aaaawwwn.

Sorry, got a bit sleepy there. This chapter’s honestly a little snoozy, with a pretty exciting but peripheral opener, a few hints of other action scenes, but mostly a lot of kaffeeklatsch chatter. I remember being sort of bewildered at some pages Flo was sending in while I was on vacation with family. There was nothing wrong or out of character with them; they just seemed strangely lacking in dramatic urgency, considering the fate of civilization being at stake. And at this point in our relationship, Flo and I were increasingly struggling to explain ourselves to each other and avoiding talks that could lead to conflict.

I now think that, consciously or not, Flo was reaching for a contrast with where she knew things were going to go by the end of the six-chapter sequence. Chapters 32 and 33 are extra peaceful because Chapters 35 and 36 will be extra disquieting. See how you like it. As ever, y’all are the final judges.