"I'd like to think so. I've become... ah. Far less confrontational. More apt to talk to folk as opposed to dismissing them out of hand. Riwane had a great deal to do with that."

She'd been persistent. Relentless. Working her way under his skin and teaching him to smile one step at a time.

"If you've done better at this school in some small part due to my efforts? Then I'm glad."