[ Matt's driving impulse here is deceptively simple. He's curious. He always is--he always wants to know what other people are thinking, what they want, what animates them. Even if that answer is horrifying (Sebastian) or tragic (Ruby) or simply mundanely horrible (Silco).

He's not confident enough in reading moods to decipher Flat's expression. So he doesn't quite track what the rising and deflating hope might mean. However, he has had numerous conversations in Kenos where it became clear pretty quick that he and the other person weren't talking about the same thing. ]

I do like poetry, [ he allows. ] I started off using it as a focus during spellcasting, but then it kind of developed into its own thing.

But if you don't mind, ah--what is your definition of efficiency?