Elf? The ears, right. That'd explain it on her. Pretty common old Earth folklore, if he recalls correctly, though not so prevalent on Barrayar. And so Miles realizes, for the first time, that when she calls him a dwarf, it isn't at all a jab at his appearance -- she just doesn't think he's human. He's not actually sure which he should be more offended by.
"I'm a human," he says flatly, lips thinned, and he does feel a little bit like he's going crazy, to have to specify that to the exclusion of other things that walk and talk and think and sort of look like human that aren't human.
"A little short for the species, I know. But I assure you, I've had enough nightmares to know a dream when I see one." There's just a bit of scathing self-deprecation in there, and -- No. Stop that. Miles presses the heel of his hand to his forehead. "Right, so you remember the part where I'm totally lacking context for any of this? Half of what you just said doesn't make any sense to me. I've never heard of lyrium, I don't know what the Fade is, except maybe a bad name for a tasteless nightclub. So no, I don't know any of this."
no subject
"I'm a human," he says flatly, lips thinned, and he does feel a little bit like he's going crazy, to have to specify that to the exclusion of other things that walk and talk and think and sort of look like human that aren't human.
"A little short for the species, I know. But I assure you, I've had enough nightmares to know a dream when I see one." There's just a bit of scathing self-deprecation in there, and -- No. Stop that. Miles presses the heel of his hand to his forehead. "Right, so you remember the part where I'm totally lacking context for any of this? Half of what you just said doesn't make any sense to me. I've never heard of lyrium, I don't know what the Fade is, except maybe a bad name for a tasteless nightclub. So no, I don't know any of this."