[ It's a strange thing, the pleasure he feels when the tension eases out of her frame. Roy's hand pauses in her hair, as if trying to stop feeling that way. (Good things are never good for long.) But somehow he has learned not to be selfish within these months here, especially with her, and he keeps going.

He licks his lips before he speaks, and his voice is soft. ]

Your parents must've thought you a prodigy. [ A soft chuckle. ] There's probably more that you know than they do, given that you're hearing the minds of the people around you.

[ It'll make for a good story, he thinks. A curse that is a blessing in its own way, even if it's cruel.

(And that's selfishness too. She talks of her life, and he thinks of it as a story. But stories are easier to swallow than lives, and he thinks that she, if no one else, will understand that.) ]