"Something I thought would never change... is changing faster than I'd like."

Interesting. They are more alike than Adhemar could have expected. How unsettling.

"I thank you for the courtesy, but no," he answers with a subtle shake of his head and a thin smile. "While it aids my focus when writing homilies, I find it does little to help with falling asleep." He takes a step backwards and towards the door to the small library, intent on seeing himself out.

"If you change your mind, Brother Johannes--" about the listening ear, of course, "--you know where I can be found."

He could always use more leverage.