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"I hope the amicable relationship between our two countries will continue indefinitely into the future," said President Dance. It wasn't quite a smile that crossed his face, but it might've been an attempt at one.

And.

Uh.

Hector was supposed to say something here. He knew that. He and Garovel had discussed how to handle this meeting at length before going to bed and again while getting ready this morning.

Words. Were needed. Really simple ones, too. So what the fuck were they again?

Uhhh.

Shit.

The cameras were all looking at him.

Standing calmly in front of them was one thing, but actually talking in front of them was another. Now that he was thinking about it, the only time that he'd ever actually spoken in front of a camera was when he had recorded that fake threat video in order to prevent Abolish from destroying the town of Harold. And he was suddenly recalling with perfect clarity how many fucking takes that recording had required.

Agh. Right now, it was all he could do to maintain his composure. He had to do something, though. Quick. Before the moment got too awkward. Or was it already too awkward? With all these parallel thought processes freaking out simultaneously, it was somehow difficult to tell how much time was actually passing here. A few seconds? A few minutes? Definitely not the second one, right? Oh god.

Would a nod suffice? Could he even manage that much? He could, right? He wasn't a fucking baby.

Yeah.

A nod.

He nodded.

And he breathed.

Agh.

Why did that have to be so difficult? Was talking in front of a camera really that different to talking to a person?

He felt like such a dumbass.

The President turned around to his desk, and for a terrible second, Hector thought that he'd fucked everything up, but then the man turned back around again, holding a finely engraved box in both hands.