"Now there's the Starla I know," he said when he heard her accent creeping back in.

"An' I'll have you know I always went to bed at a reasonable hour in school. Education's important."

He did feel a bit like a teenager again, but acting this way now made up for back then, when he didn't get this kind of thing with her.

"I also offered t'let you go, so if we keep talkin' late it's your fault." You could hear the grin in his voice, and he didn't even notice the bathroom door closing on Clarice.

"'Course, if you called a bit more often I might not hang onto the phone so long, either."