Combeferre has never been very good at absolute refusals. "Some people do," he says, "but the one time I was called out, I found that accepting, and shooting wide, was a faster way of ending the conflict. And the one time I was a second, I was helping manage things so no one got hurt. As for patching people up after duels--well, I suppose it would teach my hotheaded friends a moral lesson if I refused to do so, but I've never had the heart."

A dare, hmmm? He thinks. Dares are almost futile for Bossuet, really. Given his luck, life--or afterlife--ends up being a dare anyway. Most things worse than Bossuet's usual catastrophes would be too cruel or too crude for Combeferre's tastes. "I dare you," Combeferre says, "to serenade any person in Milliways in public, without showing the least bit of sarcasm about it." There, that seems sufficiently embarrassing, but not cruel. It's really just a less-sarcastic version of how Bossuet normally behaves to Joly anyway. And "public" is a flexible term. Or Bossuet can choose Bahorel, if he wants a victim who will not be in the least embarrassed. "And you can't pick me," Combeferre adds carefully.

ooc: you totally don't have to have Bossuet actually do this. But you can if you want!