Mm. [ It's a small, noncommittal confirmation; she's also biting back a real laugh, belly-deep, at the mental image of him as a motivational speaker. She can't decide if it's the best or worst assignment she's ever seen. Quite likely a combination of both. In the end, though, Anathema unclenches her jaw, decides to broach more of that potentially-awkward subject between them. She's really not very bitter about it anymore. Mostly. ]

As you recall, Agnes was really very specific about many things. So we narrowed and narrowed the ETA on the apocalypse, and we knew I was going to be involved, so by the time I was actually born it was pretty much a given. So my whole life was pointed towards the end of the world and I knew I likely wouldn't see my twenty-fifth birthday. [ a shrug of a shoulder. ]

Nothing like an expiration date to really make you go ahead and take advantage of what time you've got left. [ It was part of what had forged her personality: headstrong, a little impatient, not prone to hesitant waffling, ever-determined to just get on with it already. ]