Me: "I wish I were in that sphere."
Jim: "I'm sorry."
Me: "Oh, that wasn't meant to malign you. Just a thing. And besides, I am. Because of {friend's name redacted}."
Jim: "Yes. You are in the penumbra.
Me: {weird look} "Yes. I ... am in the penumbra."
{beat}
Me: "What does that word mean in law terms?"
Jim: "It ... what do you mean? How did you know it's a law thing?"
Me: "Because it essentially is Latin for 'shadow' and so ..."
Jim: "OK. It means things sort of vaguely outside the limits of a ruling, so if the ruling falls here {makes sphere shape with hands} and you're just here {slightly larger sphere shape} then you're in the penumbra."
{beat}
Me: "So you see how it comes to mean this."
Jim: "Yeah, and you're right, I only know this from law stuff."
{beat}
Jim: "We're smart."
Me: "Well, I don't know about that signaling "smart" per se. I just know Latin."
Jim: "Yeah, but there are a lot of people who don't remember their Latin so long after they graduated high school."
Me: {glare}
Jim: "I mean ... eleven years after ... You're ... I love you?"
Win: Me.
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