[Julius shifts onto his side, turning toward Marcus a little more. After a moment, with a self-effacing smile, he says,] I'm talking too much, aren't I?
[It isn't a retreat, the way it might have been in another context. While he is laughing at himself a bit, the question also has a genuine note to it. There are a variety of conversations where Julius might deploy that question as a strategic gambit; there are fewer when he'd ask because he wanted to know.]
no subject
[It isn't a retreat, the way it might have been in another context. While he is laughing at himself a bit, the question also has a genuine note to it. There are a variety of conversations where Julius might deploy that question as a strategic gambit; there are fewer when he'd ask because he wanted to know.]