"That's a myth," he tells her, lacking the resource of will to do so kindly or with any levity.

Hap reaches for his glasses, pulling them off along a hard-pressed sigh. He is mollified, very meagerly, by the fact that she only wants to hurt herself. Not take herself away from him and the study.

His gaze flickers down and is caught by the smudges on his glasses. The tiny, transparent streaks he's been staring right through. "Maybe this was a mistake."