@curiosityshop / as per our dms.
"your mother and i... are on different ends of the spectrum." not the best choice of words, though apt. "of humanity," he adds, a beat too late. denial had glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "i think it's safe to say that your mother does not wear her heart on her sleeve. hers is the way of the lizard--" careful, now. "--the chameleon. she is able to blend."
he's saying a lot of words. has been, for the six minutes following frederick's bombshell. essentially, as soon as it was dropped, frasier started talking -- talking, talking, talking.
"i am much more of an open book, and -- oh, freddy, you couldn't have known!" he insists. begs? "you were a -- only a little boy, for pete's sake. how could you have known?"