"Well, of course I'm oversimplifying. We aren't exactly seated in a comfortable inn prepared for hours of debate." Though his shrug indicated that he might not be opposed to that. When Vala was at least trying to be civil, such as now, she wasn't really that bad to talk to. They might be so far apart in every factor they had almost no common ground at all...

Well, actually, maybe they did in one tiny respect. "It might surprise you to know that I actually attempted to retire, briefly. Hit the point where I felt I'd done my duty, that I was no longer needed or wanted, and that I'd earned my leisure."