A little under 7k on the word count for this one -- but after what happened with the previous two postings, going for five digits again this soon just wasn't going to work out, and the scene also happened to have reached a natural break point. Still -- we move forward.
Which may be a little too close to Gentlespeak for comfort.
I'll also say this in my blog tomorrow, but some of the Patreon blog dictation requests will roll over into February. This month has been an unexpectedly rough one, and it's cost me time. (I was doing a lot of visiting in the hospital. The person involved is much better now, but won't be released for a few days.) I apologize for the delay -- and will do my best to get two of said dictation requests up tomorrow, so the backload won't be too bad.
Oh -- and this marks the only time I've put a translation directly into a chapter's title.
I have, in many ways, a fairly mature readership. But for this chapter, I wasn't taking any chances.