Ghede smiled at her. "Deeply ingrained habit, I suppose," he replied. "That, and sometimes I feel like a parent wrangling my errant children. Which sometimes includes trying to excuse their behavior." He heard a faint whisper of laughter in his ear at that, but didn't turn and look. Sometimes the little ones were a bit trying.
He nodded. "Unless they're particularly egregious, I try not to hold it against them. And I remember my first weeks with the Cirque. Trying to find out where I fit in with everything, getting used to constantly moving around. Now, though, it's hard to imagine myself being anywhere else."