Hal's new discomfort with "real stuff" — deflects Mario at lunch

texture · 11 Nov YDAU

• When: 11 Nov YDAU (lunch that day, recalled in Mario's evening walk)
• What: When Mario earnestly tries to discuss sincere/"real stuff" after Pemulis's Dial-a-Prayer-for-atheists joke (Mario the only one whose laugh was "a happy laugh"), "Hal was for once no help, because Hal seemed even more uncomfortable and embarrassed than the fellows at lunch," and "when Mario brought up real stuff Hal called him Booboo and acted like he'd wet himself." Hal — normally Mario's patient guide on etiquette and meaning — now flinches from sincerity like the others, a behavioral symptom of his withdrawal.