Stop it, [she hisses in mounting exasperation-- just when she thought she'd made a little headway, he so easily falls back into his dramatics.

But as she begins to pack things up, he continues, and she turns to look at him with a particular glint in her eye: her fuse is deceptively long, but Alistair is nearing the end of it.]

Boy, [she intones, her voice a bit too quiet and calm,] are you calling me pathetic?