I laughed. It wasn't quite bitter to my own ears, which was good. God, I didn't need to give Kathy any reasons to feel bad, but... I really didn't have much hope of figuring out my own life to that degree. I don't know if I'm really right enough to even have a soulmate. Sometimes it feels like life's just determined to chew me up and spit me right out. I'm glad that I've kept myself up in spite of all of that, but it gets tiring sometimes. And it feels easier not to keep my hopes too high. Easier to be pleasantly surprised than to be let down.

"I am not half as sure about that," I tell her, shaking my head as I took a small sip of my tea. "I'm not the easiest person in the world to deal with. My best friend here said it once, that I was practically an angel of death, and I know he was just real frustrated when he said it and wouldn't actually want to hurt me, but it's kind of true. I've got this curiosity about me that just sends me careening towards trouble, and danger, and I don't know. I'm trying to fix it, I really am."

I leaned back against the couch, taking another small bite of my cookie as I considered how else to put it. "Being in Darrow's a little better, because everyone sees how crazy it can get around here. You can be open about the things you've seen and done that are a little different. Either people won't care, like if they're one of the natives, or they'll at least understand that the impossible is possible around these parts."