[Freak. Richard’s countenance becomes frigid—frozen over with contempt in an effort to conceal the deep ache such an insult incurs. He hears his mother’s voice, high emotion scraping it raw, as she calls him a demon again and again. Was she wrong? Self-fulling prophecy indeed.]

What a foul mouth you have. [He does not likewise lift his chin; instead, Richard gazes coldly at Dito from beneath thick lashes, having mastered the effect of looking down on people without actually needing to do so.] Have you never kissed family before? I have to question what your “mistress” had you do, that you would find something so commonplace “incestual.”

[Still, a male prostitute at this child’s age? Well, there are certainly the true freaks who would pay for such an opportunity. That said, Richard wonders if he isn’t underestimating the stranger; the young man might be older than he appears. Buckingham was, after their first few initial meetings.]