"Yes," Herc agreed, perhaps more heartfelt than Raleigh would have expected his reaction to be. "Yes, it really, really is."

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Listen, Raleigh, I find myself in need of an assistant. I've had one volunteer but apparently I'm allowed two, so, I don't suppose you'd be interested in the job?" This was totally not as terrible an idea as he suspected it was, right?