"No, we aren't," Lucy agreed, smiling a little despite the nature of what she was saying. It was the one piece of all of it that most stuck in her mind, that they weren't cut out for this place. Over the years she'd spent here, she had known others in the same position, but never before had that sense of kinship seemed so important, and simultaneously so relieving. There were few things she hated more than feeling helpless, and as far as she could see, the same held true for Ishiah. Maybe some part of her had to wish that he didn't have to feel like that, too, but conversely, at least it meant that they each had someone who understood. "And no, it isn't."

That much, she knew from experience, when people — Jude — had tried to convince her of that before. It wasn't an aspect of her past worth dwelling on. Instead, she finished off what juice she had left, swallowing heavily and staring, for a moment, into the empty glass which sat in front of her on the bar. "But hopefully it does. Like you said, it won't fix anything, but at least we won't have to worry for just a little while."