"I really don't know why everyone's acting so weird all of a sudden."
It had come to that time in Leon's life when he had felt that he had to see a psychiatrist. She was a nice enough woman, he supposed, but she didn't really seem to be listening to him. She'd been asking the same questions repeatedly, and Leon suspected she was just filling up time to get paid more.
"In what way have they been acting weird?" the psychiatrist asked patronisingly.
"Well, Walter seems to get a funny cough that sounds an awful lot like 'Nicolae' when I'm around, Viv starts singing 'I'm a believer' every time the Potentate enters, and although this little show of devotion is nice, I don't like the snide looks she keeps throwing me. Suhail keeps talking about clothes, mainly what the Potentate is wearing today as well." Leon sighed.
"And does the Potentate know about this?" she asked absently.
Leon's face went crimson, but the psychiatrist, hiding behind her clipboard (as psychiatrists are wont to do), didn't notice.
"He doesn't know. He doesn't know…" Leon mumbled.
"But surely divinity like that must notice?" For all the psychiatrist was patronising, she was at least a Carpathia devotee.
Leon's voice took on a dreamy tone.
"Divinity…yes…but he doesn't notice much. He doesn't notice the way his hair flicking over his eyes makes him look perfect. He doesn't notice how well dressed he always is. He doesn't even notice me…"