Mario covers for Hal's secret smoke on a post-dinner stroll

texture · YDAU, mid-Oct

• When: mid-October YDAU (2009), ~1900h
• What: Hal invites Mario for a stroll along the tree-line; "Mario could sense that Hal wanted to be able to go off by himself briefly," so Mario feigns interest in a "leaf-and-twig ensemble" and lets Hal melt away to get high in the pines. Hal returns after "fifteen or so secret minutes alone," navigation "compromised," and homes in on Mario (mid-tryst with the U.S.S. Millicent Kent) by his laugh. Documents the Hal-Mario dynamic — Mario knowingly enabling Hal's concealed habit.