Then maybe I should just play against him, and you can sit the game out. [ It's slight, marked only at the corners of her mouth and the softest curve of her cheeks, but there's a smile there. ] You can practice meditating. Or, I don't know, zone out and rank your favorite rom-coms.

[ Despite everything, there's an easiness to the mood that surrounds Jaime, a sincere sort of pleasantness — the sudden puff of a summer breeze. It's not difficult to fall into the same pace.

Still, she can't shake uncertainty so quickly — grateful as she is that this is the topic he's pursuing. She hums a moment for thought. ]

How do you think it works? That part of my power.