[ That...Well. That takes him by surprise. That's a rather rare thing, all things considered: Byerly tends to be hard to ruffle, hard to catch completely off-guard. But Rani's unpredictability is what drew him to her in the first place, wasn't it? So he should hardly be surprised when she surprises him.

But even so. That firm affirmation of his nature...For just a moment, his face goes immobile, frozen, focused. Surprise on him looks identical to intensity on other people. Something flashes in his eyes, something a little...uncertain, maybe even something a little frightened. Something deeply unhappy, in any case.

And then the moment passes. Then he's moving again, flipping up his hand, his expression going droll and wry. But while he says this in a cheerful chatter, his voice camouflaging that hurt, the words go right to what had caused him to wear that expression. ] Well. Maybe not now. But most of us end up going mad in the end. You're quite right, though, that there's no guarantee that I'll turn into the violent sort of madman. There are all sorts of types of madness for me to choose from. So exciting.

[ He laughs, and then transmutes that laugh into a sigh and a pout. ] Still. Old Vorkosigan decided I'd make a handy prop in his torture session - intimidation coming from the family name, all that. It certainly wasn't my favorite thing that I did while you were gone, I can assure you. [ Oh, and speaking of his favorite thing that he did while she was gone - ] I really must thank Maine, by the way. It really is a pleasure having you back.