Somewhere along the way she'd given up on petting Sonia and simply listened. Whether he looked at her or not it seemed impossible to focus on anything but Bert. Seeing him without that layer of defensive, warding humor was as unnerving as it was monumental. It wasn't difficult to see why Kaine was so hopelessly enamored with him.

"I suppose it doesn't help any but I have no idea what that is. Couldn't spot it even if my life was on the line." A big part of her wanted to completely refute the idea. What in the worlds could she give Roland? Except for more work and trouble. "Aside from the part about ka," Because h was probably right with that one. "I don't think you're close enough."

She looked down at the kitten on her lap and played with its ears. "No one can make me stay except myself and I'm …" Now she shrugged, laughing humorlessly. "I'm here, aren't I?" But it wasn't the same, and that was a little bit of the problem.