Ari supposed Aspel had a point - in her new position, she likely would not lack for social obligations. Actually, if she thought about it, the fact that Aspel had managed to avoid eating in front of other people for what appeared to be years was somewhat impressive, in its way. "In that case," she said, not really thinking about it, the offer coming easily, "I'm certain I can make myself available in future... for you to practice with." Though perhaps not often - it did not seem like Aspel was eating much, despite all her efforts.
"Distraction it is, then," she decided after considering it a few moments. "Shall I try for something amusing? You can always shush me in the middle if you prefer, or change the subject. As you may already know, Vivi has decided to break Aud of drinking. So at my birthday party..." She recanted the tale which ended with Audrey performing a rather impressive drunken keg stand on Wil's shoulders, transitioned to one about this afternoon's rehearsal, in which the man playing Fedoro had snuck vodka into his water bottle - which fact resulted in a rather hilarious scramble in the middle of the run of act three - and finished with Merri's antics this afternoon at the library, which were quite entertaining in retrospect even if she had been in no mood to enjoy them at the time. By the time she was finished, her plate was empty and Aspel's about halfway there, which judging by the expression on her face was likely the best she was going to get.
"Shall I help put some of this away?" she asked eventually; it was hardly any trouble to close up and stack the boxes and transport them to the kitchen, along with the dirty dishes which could be placed in the sink, unless Aspel had a particular desire to wash them right this instant. "Do you want more tea?" She knew she was stalling, a little - dinner was as complete as it was going to get and Aspel still looked tied, but she was not in the mood to depart quite yet.