Steven’s about to walk out the door to head to work. I’m in the bathroom, still flat-ironing my hair — one of my few vanities.
Steven leans across the threshold of the doorway to the bathroom to kiss me goodbye. He’s not allowed entrance because Renton has stretched himself lengthwise across the doorway like a Sphinx. His body manner screams, “You shall not pass!”
“Bye, Renton,” Steven says. Renton stares straight ahead, waiting for the intruder to leave.
Steven goes over to the bed to say goodbye to Hermione. They had been wrestling earlier and she was under one of his shirts.
“Bye, ‘Mione.”
“Qushweitoeigaf!” she replies. (Translation: her pissed-off duck noise.)