Partly because I want to share the dialogue without giving away the details of the situation in which it's delivered, and partly because I, uh, haven't written the framing action yet.SAKURA: Sorry, Sensei. It took me longer than I expected to get - who's this?
BARONESS (bemused): "Sensei"?
GRYPHON (sighing): Baroness, this is my apprentice, Sakura Kasugano. Sakura, meet Anastasia Sergeyevna Onatopp, Baroness de Cobray.
BARONESS: You have an apprentice? (laughs)
GRYPHON: What's so funny about that?
BARONESS: You told me once you would never take a student.
GRYPHON: You told me once you would never leave Destro.
BARONESS: Touché.
SAKURA (skeptically): You didn't tell me you knew any dominatrixes, Sensei.
BARONESS (annoyed): Ach! Why does everyone make that ridiculous assumption?
GRYPHON (amused): Maybe it's the spike-heeled jackboots. Or the leather bodysuit. Or the whip.
BARONESS: It was a gift from a friend, and it is a very useful tool! No one thinks Indiana Jones is a dominatrix.
GRYPHON (patiently): Ana, Indy doesn't wear a black leather catsuit and call himself "The Baroness".
SAKURA: Thank God.
BARONESS: I am a baroness! Dr. Jones is not a state.
GRYPHON: ... You have a point. Of a sort. And you're not really a baroness.
BARONESS: Of course I am!
GRYPHON: Ana. You "convinced" the Prince of Borokovia to ennoble you at gunpoint.
BARONESS: A simple misunderstanding.
GRYPHON: Right. So. Uh. What are you doing here?
BARONESS (lightly): Seeking the secrets of Shadolu's dark power. You?
GRYPHON: I'm just looking for someone. Say, uh, you wouldn't be planning to use that dark power for evil, would you?
BARONESS: Me? Surely not. Do I look like the kind of girl who would do a thing like that?
GRYPHON: I don't think you want me to answer that question, Ana.
BARONESS: Hmph.
GRYPHON: I notice you're not wearing the... snake head... logo... thing any more. Gone freelance?
BARONESS: In a manner of speaking. Why? Are you hiring?
GRYPHON: Well, that depends. Are you still a vicious, amoral terrorist without a shred of remorse or human decency?
BARONESS: Oh, please. You will grant that I have always had a shred of human decency. Or have you forgotten Malta?
GRYPHON: Okay, I'll stipulate to that.
BARONESS: And if I know you, you are going to all this trouble for the sake of a woman.
GRYPHON: That's true. And if I know you, you're going to all this trouble because the danger helps you forget that you still haven't found a meaningful direction for your life.
BARONESS: You are an annoying perceptive man. Have I told you that?
GRYPHON: It seems to me that was why you dumped me. The second time. But then, I think you were only drawn to me in the first place because I was the first guy you really got to know who didn't wear a mask 24-7.
BARONESS: Mmm... possible.
GRYPHON: Speaking of which, how's Destro?
BARONESS (coldly): I would not know. Why don't you check with his "secretary"? I believe her name is Leticia.
GRYPHON: Ouch. Well, I told you that guy was trouble.
BARONESS: You are an annoyingly perceptive man. Have I told you that?
GRYPHON: Oh, you're not still mad at me about what I had to do to Xenia, are you?
BARONESS: It was a trifle unsporting.
GRYPHON: Unsporting? She was trying to kill me! Anyway, I didn't hurt her... permanently. If anything, I like to think that I provided a valuable service.
BARONESS (skeptically): Service.
GRYPHON: Absolutely. If she's at all smart, she learned an important lesson about messing with forces you don't understand.
BARONESS (dryly): I'm sure the thought brings her great comfort.
SAKURA: Uh... I'll just be over here, missing all the subtext.
BARONESS and GRYPHON (in unison): When you're older.