[She did say that it sounds absurd to so many others, so van Zieks was indeed prepared to mitigate his reaction to some extent, at least. His eyes widen, and his posture straightens, but he keeps his hands on his cane and, after a moment of blinking, simply offers a:]
Hmm.
[This "hmm" is the particular sort of rising hmm that one can easily translate to "interesting." And that "interesting" is the kind of polite remark one makes when one means to say "are you out of your mind?" or "you're being embarrassingly silly" or, yes, "that's absurd."
It's not like he can deny the possibility at this stage, though, especially after he just made such a deal over being able to accept her words. So rather than belabor the point...]
... I can see how your change would be—disorienting.
[He has. So many questions! And so many of them too impolite to ask at once, or ever.]
no subject
Hmm.
[This "hmm" is the particular sort of rising hmm that one can easily translate to "interesting." And that "interesting" is the kind of polite remark one makes when one means to say "are you out of your mind?" or "you're being embarrassingly silly" or, yes, "that's absurd."
It's not like he can deny the possibility at this stage, though, especially after he just made such a deal over being able to accept her words. So rather than belabor the point...]
... I can see how your change would be—disorienting.
[He has. So many questions! And so many of them too impolite to ask at once, or ever.]