"How about a speech there, Webber?" Vanguard called out from his place behind the camera to their left.
"Absolutely not!" Eliezer responded, turning his attentions to the room. "And you all should know better than to ask that of me, anyway! I don't give speeches, and what's more... I'm tired."
He made a broad sweeping motion with his hand as he spoke, overdramatizing the subject to preserve the lightness of the mood, but she could see the weariness as it began to seep through his merry visage.
"Oh, come now!" Vanguard protested.
"No, no," Eliezer said, raising his hand with some insistence. "I am going to bed," he announced in no uncertain terms.
"Eliezer," Dorcus muttered softly, attracting his attention.
He turned to her and his eyes softened. "I must admit that I am feeling rather faint," he confessed to her with quiet tenderness, "but I wouldn't want them to become concerned for me."
She felt her heart pulling at her.
'Eliezer...'