[ Byerly sighs and looks away - but he's not actually irritated, not actually trying to make Nash suffer his reluctance. He's buying a bit of time.

Well, trust breeds trust, right? And he's already taken some damnably big gambles on dear Vorlatkje, here. This is a smaller one, and one with potentially a bigger prize. If he goes back into stasis, or if he dies, he needs someone out there who cares about Nadine. Someone besides Prior. ]

Older brothers, all. Three of them, and a sister. Which meant there was nothing for him to inherit aside from one of the more pathetic estates, which meant he scarcely had a penny - but of those few pennies he did have, he feverishly counted every one. Growing up, my sister and I never had unworn clothes, never had a meal with fresh fruits or vegetables - and he's still like that today. A small-minded, spiteful miser who sits and sneers about his superiority over every other person in his vicinity, Vor and prole alike.