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He turned to look at her.
“To relax,” she added.
“You watch crime documentaries to relax?”
“They’re very calming.”
“The victims would disagree.”
She pointed at him. “That was a joke.”
“It was an observation.”
“About crime victims.”
“They remain relevant to any discussion of crime documentaries.”
She stared at him. “You’re funnier than you look.”
“I look exactly as funny as I am.”
“It was funny. You’re funny. I need you to know that I’ve noticed this and I’m tracking it.”
He turned back to the railing. There was the almost-smile, different this time—warmer. “What else?”
“What else, what?”
“What else do you watch?”
She’d been doing so well. “Disaster movies.”
“What kind?”
“Volcano movies. Asteroid movies. The ones where six named characters are guaranteed to survive, and you watch them reach that point over two hours. The science is entirely inaccurate, yet everyone involved seems to be doing their best.”
He took this in with the serious attention he gave everything. “Why?”
“Because everyone survives.” She kept her eyes on the ocean. “The named characters, anyway. The stakes are enormous, the outcome is never in doubt, and you get to watch competent people solve an enormous problem. Then it’s fine. I find this deeply comforting.”
“Given your current situation.”
“Given my current situation, yes, I am very sympathetic to the woman outrunning the lava.”
“She survives.”
“She always survives.”
He went quiet — thinking something he wasn’t going to volunteer. Then, he said, “Good.”
The word good had not done anything to her sternum. She was an adult. She was a professional. She’d managed a marketing department of thirty people for six years, and single-word answers from sheriffs during evening walks didn't trigger a physiological response.
The fire in her palms agreed. She told it that was unhelpful.
She turned. “What about family? Besides your brother.”
“Parents are gone. Both of them. Fifteen years ago for my father, eight for my mother.” He said it plainly — not without weight, but without performing that weight for her benefit. “Tor is it.”
“Is he as—” she searched for a word.
