[ He hears softball as soft ball, something which gets a blink out of him since that's not a phrase he's heard before even among the others he's been introduced to. The rest of what Steve says offers plenty of clarification with no overthinking necessary, and he nods since that's what he meant. Time to file that phrase away for use another time; same goes for asking where it came from for his own curiosity. ]

Something like that. Better to start with something everyone finds reasonable and then work our way along from there. It'll give us a good idea of what to expect from the government here based on what they say, too, which will prove plenty useful in many other ways. We'll get it all figured out together - the three of us, but also all the Summoned here, too.

[ And those ways might be something, say, like making sure none of them are eligible for a draft the next time Thorne (or the Free Cities themselves) does something suspicious to raise the tensions again. They're low right now thanks to the supposed mediation - and probably the aftermath of everything far more recently - but Claude would be surprised if they stay that way forever or even long.

That is a topic better left for another time when there's a celebration going on around them, and it brings to mind something else from the past that's related and puts a smile on his face. ]

I have to say, being here and talking about this also reminds me of having to do the same once upon a time. Some of the lords I dealt with were rather persistent so I used to make a game out of avoiding them at parties to keep myself entertained. This is far nicer.

[ Considering Steve is, after all, a friend and pleasant company. That's much different. ]