“You haven’t said a darn thing for over an hour, Rune.”

Rune nodded promptly, then continued to eat his sandwich.

“What I mean is, I’ve heard you, well, so to speak, be quiet when there was something going on, but a silent lunch is a first for you. Is everything, you know, all right?”

Greg watched his friend with growing anticipation. Rune had finished his previous bite, and now sat staring at a corner of the room – Greg could almost see him rearranging his thoughts in preparation to speak. The intensity of the silence, the inexorable wait for a response, the expectation of that twitch of Rune’s mouth that would betray his first utterance – Greg was barely in control of his faculties throughout the tension-charged pause.

And there was that twitch! But when Rune only sighed, Greg exploded. He swiped at Rune’s sandwich, knocking it to the floor.

“Stop keeping it in! Just say it! You know something, something big, something REALLY big, and it’s bad too! Else… else you’d tell me! Just…

“— Please…”