Chapter 542

“Killian read chapter fourteen,” Ivory said.

“I was there when he was reading it,” I said.

“And you had the chapter fifteen conversation. Ivory said.

“I provided some context,” I said.

“Y

packed the “Jordan started.

led context,” I said again.

swatching this with the expression she had when something was happening that she was observing position of partial information. Silver, through the bond, communicated amusement that was cally Silver’s flavor warm and present and finding things funny in the way that wolves found things y, which was complete and unmanaged.

41

—

Aria, Ivory said. “Have you read any of the series.”

“Parts of it, Aria said. “Kael read me a section during the break.”

“Which section,” Ivory said.

“The window situation,” Aria said. “In Everest’s arc.”

“The window in chapter eight,” Ivory said. “That’s the foreshadowing sequence.”

“He had opinions about the window,” Aria said.

“Everyone has opinions about the window,” Jordan said. “That’s the point of the window. It’s designed to produce opinions.”

“The window represents the obvious choice that the character keeps not making because making it would require acknowledging what he actually wants,” Ivory said, with the focused energy of someone who’d been waiting to give this specific explanation for some time. “Everest keeps going through the door because the door is the choice that maintains the pretense. The window would require him to admit that the pretense has failed.”

“He goes through the window eventually,” Jordan said.

“Book six,” Ivor

But he

“B

ster twenty-two.”

ime it’s available,” Jordan said.

indow is always available. The readiness is the variable.”

ly a metaphor.”

my actual office, which was an ordinary window that overlooked the training Vaid al implications.

“The book club,” I said, “is going to be the thing where you all discuss the metaphors in the books and inen. apply them to situations in this office.”

e-book club, Ivory said, “is going to be a structured discussion of the series with annotations available and”

“And you’re going to apply the metaphors,” I said.

“The metaphors are applicable,” Ivory said. “That’s what makes them good metaphors.”

“To us,” I said. “Specifically.”

“To various situations,” she said.

“To us,” I said.

She looked at me with the expression that was both the clinical professional and the person who’d known me for twelve years and found the gap between my awareness of things and my willingness to discuss them one of the most persistent features of our friendship.

“The book club,” she said, “is an opportunity to discuss complex interpersonal dynamics in a context that has established fictional framing to reference.”

“You want to talk about our feelings,” I said. “Using book characters as proxies.”

“I want to discuss the literary elements of air excellent series,” she said.

“Ivory,” I said.

“The characterization is particularly strong in the later volumes,” she said.

“Ivory.” I said.

“The relationship dynamics are nuanced in ways that reward—”

“Ivory,” I said.

She looked at me.

“Yes,” she said.

“You want to talk about our feelings using book characters as proxies.” I said.

Yes,

It produces avoidance. The proxy approach has a better sucCRAS

“Jordan,” I said.

agreeing,” Jordan said. “Quietly.”

“I don’t avoid things,” I said.

a/n: yes you do kael, you either ignore it, or beat it up, those are your default settings.