After that previous conversation, Cal finds this easier to swallow; with Sam having clarified his position, it doesn't sting like it once did.

(Even if Cal still thinks Sam is crazy.)

"A pony?" he says, then hesitates as something surfaces in his mind.

"Actually, there is something I've been meaning to ask you."

For a while now. He's been putting it off for too long, he knows that. He just - wasn't sure of what impression it might make.

He feels more confident now that it'll be fine, though. (That comes with being Favorite.) And Bela can't afford for him to put it off any longer.