His decision to do the same, or affirmation—she couldn't tell which it was—did seem to brighten her spirits some. But then to be fair, reuniting with him had pleased her in a way that she'd not thought entirely possible. He still tied her to a kind of sanity that her remaining altruism practically clung to. But there would be no point in saying so or trying to explain the situation.

"Just in case," she repeated happily. "Thanks for walking with me. And talking with me. You know, all of that jazz." An ironic statement coming from someone who didn't even know what jazz was aside from a definition to a word.