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The man looked at Alli with that hint of malevolence associated with all mysterious new characters. Turning away, he said "No, we have never met."
She persisted. "Well, maybe we've never met but I know you from somewhere, don't I? Your accent now—it seems quite unusual for Mordor. Where do I recognise you from?" She smiled coquettishly. The small boy behind her stared away uncomfortably.
He looked at her again but kept his mouth shut. It had to be an inquisitive teenage girl, didn't it? Even with this ridiculous black cloak that he was wearing, the man could not escape this sort of attention. Perhaps if he hadn't been in hiding he would have toyed with her a bit; but he was in no mood for that kind of behaviour today. "My odd voice is a consequence of a sore throat I suffered whilst arguing with a group of particularly obnoxious people. You do not recognise me, missy. Why do you suspect me?" This he said, getting very defensive and thus appearing even more suspicious than he had initially.
"Don't toy with me" said the girl; and while the man pondered the coincidence of her using that phrase after he had consciously been trying not to toy with her, he let his guard down for the quick follow-up: "My name's Alli, what's yours?"
"Eo—mmm....." he mumbled pathetically. "Um, yes. My name is Aimé."
"Aimé?" she replied incredulously. "You can end this charade, mister. I know who you are." Her look of triumph suggested wit, elegance, a touch of sweetness and a lot of vanity.
The man bowed his head sheepishly, forgetting for the moment that Aimé was an altogether nice and genuine name in the time and place he had come from. He stared at the tea-cup and reflected on his time in Mordor. It had not been brilliant fun. Sure there were good aspects about being here: he had been lucky enough to have a couple of chats with Plato, of all people; and his enjoyment of rap and country music had been more than adequately catered for. But good relationships were so hard to find here among the Orcs. And now this inviting young lady had fallen into his hands at a time when it was necessary to shun all others in order to maintain his freedom. It was just so unfair.
"I'm terribly sorry, miss, but I must leave" he said as he stood up. The girl just kept that funny look on her face, which irritated the man something awful. He displayed one of his bad habits in response, sticking his tongue out at the girl, and swirled around dramatically to storm off. But the girl glanced at a clock on the wall and stood up quickly, herself.
"[Expletive deleted]" she exclaimed, "I appear to be running late. I'll have to get out of here too. Grabbing the terrified young boy by the arm, she strode over to the as-yet-unidentified man, who was nearing the exit.
"Did I say leave? O I do believe I meant to say that I must stay here until you are out of sight." He tramped back over to the table and slouched down into the chair in a sulk.
The girl (along with a few objective observers) shook her head in bemusement and left.
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