He got exactly what he wanted out of it - she flinched - and he grinned politely from where he'd been shoved away to, moving away to examine one of the pots on the stove.

"You know, Kathy, I've always wondered--if I were to drop a single tribble into a pot of boiling stew, which do you suppose would occur first: the tribble dying, or its multiplying?"

A pause. "Purely scientifically speaking, of course."