Conversations were happening around her, not to her:
A bit plaintively: “I’m not quite that out of form, am I?—”
(“Magnus! Maaaaagnus. Three moves, Magnus.”)
“—Am I getting old? Should Abigail and I divorce?—”
“I didn’t even see her move.” Corona was breathing hard. “God, she’s fast.”

Gideon the Ninth - Act Two, Chapter Eleven