...all right, I think I might forgive you for comparing me to him, before.

[he manages a little faint amusement at that, shaking his head.]

A spectator and recorder-- you're a form of author in your own right.

[not for the first time so far, he wishes they weren't having this conversation now. he's going to have so many questions; there's a lot he knows he'd have liked to talk about, just from this much.]