Nigel Haruka's speech is up to his usual standards: witty, well-enunciated enough to hear in the back rows, and (perhaps rarest of all) concise. Already it's winding to a close.
Regan listens with a small, warm smile -- it's practiced, just the right degree of interest, but for this particular speech that interest is sincere -- and drops her hand to squeeze her husband's briefly. He's up next.
Out in the audience and at the edges of the stage wait their bodyguards and security people, and those of every other dignitary here. It's strange, she reflects sometimes at the sight of a discreet and broad-shouldered shadow, how quickly they've gotten accustomed to that.
A tangle of kids has spilled into one aisle, bickering and giggling over their green puffs of spun sugar, and it makes her smile a little more. They are, after all, what this center's all about, no matter what fine words of thanks Nigel's speaking.
no subject
Regan listens with a small, warm smile -- it's practiced, just the right degree of interest, but for this particular speech that interest is sincere -- and drops her hand to squeeze her husband's briefly. He's up next.
Out in the audience and at the edges of the stage wait their bodyguards and security people, and those of every other dignitary here. It's strange, she reflects sometimes at the sight of a discreet and broad-shouldered shadow, how quickly they've gotten accustomed to that.
A tangle of kids has spilled into one aisle, bickering and giggling over their green puffs of spun sugar, and it makes her smile a little more. They are, after all, what this center's all about, no matter what fine words of thanks Nigel's speaking.