"Who are those who might be afraid to be turned away from God, if not sinners?" Chéri asked, still distant. They then shook their head. They weren't good at this, not at their freshest. And despite their presentation, they were deeply ignorant and deeply aware of it.

And as Malachi placed his eyes to the fire, so did Chéri. In the end, their face ended up looking somewhere between sad and exhausted. Apparently they had given up on trying to keep any emotion or sign of fatigue invisible. It probably wasn't their natural state.

Malachi said something in English and Chéri rose their brows "I'm sorry?" They asked in confusion. Then Malachi went back to more mundane questions. Chéri now seemed so doubtful that they hesitated to answer even this. It took them at least a full minute for a mere "Yes."