"You just... look into their heads? Do they know you're in there?"

Another sip of his drink.

"That must be exhausting. All I have is a well-developed sense of what it is people want from a commission, but... what they are trying to do, most of the time, is fill a void that is otherwise filled with unhappiness. And I know, no matter how beautiful the things I make may be, they will not by themselves bring happiness."

A pause. "Well, except for an unnatural semblance of happiness."