"That's horrible," Ned says, leaning forward with his arms resting on the table. There's a faint voice, somewhere in the back of his mind, saying that it's not just advertising agencies where people go to escape from things. Some people cope with it by drinking and getting high and working all the time, some cope by baking pies and living quietly in ways that don't draw attention to themselves.

"So why are you different?"

He realizes after the fact that, in some ways, it might be a very intimate question. If he were entirely sober, he might regret saying it in silence, but there's a pleasant buzzing in his head, loosening his lips, "Is that a rude question to ask? It probably is. Nevermind. Forget I said anything."