Out of the corner of his eye, Michel saw Varner's grip on the handles tighten more than was strictly necessary for the turn they had just completed. He made a mental note of it, and the tone used to mention his friend. Now was not the time to ask of such things - he had no great desire to die in a fiery wreck this evening.
"I do not understand the compulsion to name inanimate objects," he said instead. "Jean-Gaspard has all his tools named, and you must refer to them by name if you want to use them. It's quite an odd feeling to refer to a mallet as Louis rather than mallet."