Actually, it's not so much what *he's* been through as what *she's* been through. About five minutes before that line, she was in the process of dissovling away into oblivion, holding on only through sheer will, so that she could report her utter failure to the guy who happens to be the focus of her existence. Not exactly a happy place. The rigid rules of the Full Formal Greeting meant that she could just give what she knew were the correct responses, and not have to actually think about what had just happened on a personal level. It gave her a bit of much-needed emotional distance.
Mind you, you do have a point. That's one of the things I should be sliding at least a better hint of into the story. There's no real reason to hide it, and no good way to introduce it later. I'll have to think about it.
Mind you, you do have a point. That's one of the things I should be sliding at least a better hint of into the story. There's no real reason to hide it, and no good way to introduce it later. I'll have to think about it.