Raine was silent for some time once Valdis had said this, but the distance of her gaze had turned contemplative; she was thinking, not simply observing the walls. "I imagine I would grieve," she said, still quiet, "but I suppose I am not new to such things."

It was still strange. "Some of the things you've said make you sound very old," Raine noted next. "And yet, in this respect, you seem contradictorily young." There was nothing derogatory about the way she said it, simple observation of fact. When they had first spoken of love Raine had assumed it simply a product of inexperience with romance, not an inability to cope with strong emotion in general; she'd said herself she knew negative emotions well enough. "Why is that?"