"Do you want to?" she asked me plainly.

I blinked, and looked back up at her.

"Do you want to tell me? Get it off your chest? Do you think you're ready for that?" she asked.

I opened my mouth for a moment, closed it, and thought.

"I give you the option to pry out my past, and you ask me if I'm serious or not?" I ask her looking to the side.

"Most psychiatrists would probably tell you to talk to someone," she stated. "In my experience capes can be a bit trickier and you look like you could use some help getting your feet back under yourself first."

"That said," she added in quickly, "If you think you're up for it, I'll listen."

I looked back at her, rumbled the story around in the back of my head for a bit. I was ready to throw it out as a big display to get her to stop trying to pitch something I didn't want to buy but was it really worth so little? The lives of my... shit what did I even call them? It was hard to call someone a friend if you only knew them for less then a day even if they died for you.

Gods what a horrible person I was if I couldn't call someone a friend for as shit a reason as that.

"Honestly... I probably should," I said quietly. "That is what they say for this kind of crap. Get it off your chest, but..."

"You're not sure anyone would really believe it," she guessed.

I blinked and looked at her dumbly, "How-?"

"You think you're the first person I met with a story like that?" she asked me.

Worm was relatively 'hard' for a 'capes and robbers' setting. Very self contained and limited with it's weirdness. Grim as hell yeah, but not actually that diverse or cosmic in scale.

"I don't know, maybe I just need to get my own head around it first," I stated.

"You know what I find helps?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "Not being alone?"

"That too," she said, "But no. Doing something. Making it worth it," she said to me flatly. "Helping to make sure someone else doesn't go through that, again and again. The weight... it never really goes away, but it helps you carry it."

I exhaled slowly, then scooped out some chili shoving it in and chewing slowly.

The beans mushed fine, but there were mushrooms in it that had a rubbery texture you only ever saw of food subjected to the heresy that was a microwave.

What a waste of food. As good as this tasted I instantly was aware that at least a third of it's flavor had to have been sacrificed at the altar of expedience.

I swallowed slowly, "Yeah I'm not ready," I admitted. It wasn't just me though, it really was a story out of this world, how did I explain the things I knew? Did I even dare to? Miss Militia was an awesome person, powerful, skilled, honest, moral in ways that you just did not see outside of those genuine 'would sacrifice themselves for another at the drop of a hat' heroes.

I'd trust her with almost anything even in spite of there being no bond between us. She was just that great of a woman.

But secrets could kill, and the ones I knew were deadly on a level hard to believe. I was half convinced the only reason I was still alive was that I might be immune to precognition as an entity 'outside of fate'.

Miss Militia had no such advantage.

She nodded, "I can understand that, and I'll still be here when you are."

I stuck the little plastic spoon into the chili again. There wasn't much left of it.

"Thanks," what else was there to say really?

Shit this was exactly what I was worried about. My defenses were down.

~Then just keep remembering that the nice lady will probably be dead if you give in~

The Navigator of Unknown Skies was always a willing and helpful guide.

~Ah you think the nicest things partner~

Even if they laid it on a little thick at times.

"So," I said to her scooping up another bite worth, "Where do we go from here? I'm not signing up still but I don't mind working with you guys a bit. There a contact number or something I can use to call in arrests, tip offs, offers to assist, that sort of thing?" I questioned her.

"Actually yes," She said. "Though it's nowhere near as much as you'd get if you actually joined up," she pressed on the obligatory tagline.

"Of course," I agreed.

She pulled out a cellphone, a nice little flip phone variant that looked more solid then sleek. An aesthetic I could appreciate, "Here, I brought this on the off chance you didn't accept," she had this little mischievous look to her eyes, and I could just easily image her lips pulled into a cute little smirk under that scarf of hers.

Thank you Ms. Robinson, Jesus loves you more then you could know... oh oh oh...

"Imagine that," I played along, relaxing a bit as I accepted that while she had hoped, she had no plans to actually force me into the job on this.

Ironically that more then anything would have convinced me otherwise.

But the cards just weren't right for that today.

"For the record, you came miles closer to recruiting me then Armsmaster managed," I stated to her. "Honestly once I get some of my personal issues in order I seriously might," I said more seriously.

Mind you by 'personal issues' I meant 'Scion, Cauldron, and my little potential psychotic episode issues'. Preferably in that order.

"If you need help with that," she stated.

"You'll be one of the first I ask," I agreed at once. "Until then though..." I scooped up the last bite.

"Well until then," she agreed.

And such one more of my problems was solved for the night.

Now I just needed to take care of whatever cropped up next.