Kire, for once, didn’t volunteer herself into the task, having enough self-restraint to know she was in no condition to do so. When he spoke, Kire sighed; she hadn’t expected the question to be the first thing he said to her, but she had been anticipating it coming one way or another. “It’s…” Her voice trailed off. She had posed this question to herself, but she didn’t know the answer. Or didn’t have [i]one[/i] answer. “A relief, for one,” she said after a pause. “It’s not like my other big problems had gone away but—it feels like it. Like I could do something right again. That I can cross out my list of impossible promises. It’s a well-worn phrase, but like a weight has been lifted, and I got back something that’s been stolen from me.” 

She watched him toil. “Envy was right for not liking that plan. That was colossally dangerous.” She meant it as a light joke, but her tone came out more seriously than she had intended. Kire paused again before speaking. “You? How do you feel? You were alone with her for a while. That can’t have been easy.”