---

"What's a mathmatician's favorite dessert?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. Was this guy serious? I hoped that he wouldn't keep talking to me for so long that Partain would skip the meeting. I checked the door again.

The bartender didn't really wait for me to guess the answer, anyway.

"Pi!" He exclaimed, delighted at his own wit. His amusement at himself was much more humorous to me than his stupid jokes, and I chuckled a little bit at my own jokes, which were at his expense. I took a long draw from the glass of beer.

"Okay, okay," He said. "One more, and I'll stop."

I was ignoring him already.