[ She ponders over the significance of signs and discrepancies, and Hei thinks, She was curious. Mao ordered her to send out her specter. But she persisted the other times because she was curious. He isn't sure what to make of that. It's mindbending. He's never considered Yin as just a superficial shell -- a Doll is no different from a pair of binoculars or a hidden wire, in their world -- but not to him. Yet sometimes she exhibits signs that fill even him with disquiet. Flares of willfulness. ]
[ (Sometimes he suspects she's no ordinary Doll at all. Not in any sense of the word). ]
[ By habit, he keeps the thoughts off his face. Rising from the bench, he tucks his grocery bag under one arm and slips the other hand into his pocket. But not before reaching -- almost imperceptibly -- to ghost his fingertips across her shoulder. Glancing down at her head, where the silver hair grows in a whorl, he says, ] Next time Mao orders you to watch anyone I interact with [ although he shouldn't, if Hei has anything to say about it ] I expect you to tell me.
no subject
[ (Sometimes he suspects she's no ordinary Doll at all. Not in any sense of the word). ]
[ By habit, he keeps the thoughts off his face. Rising from the bench, he tucks his grocery bag under one arm and slips the other hand into his pocket. But not before reaching -- almost imperceptibly -- to ghost his fingertips across her shoulder. Glancing down at her head, where the silver hair grows in a whorl, he says, ] Next time Mao orders you to watch anyone I interact with [ although he shouldn't, if Hei has anything to say about it ] I expect you to tell me.