The One with the Paladin
"How do you handle it?" Pallegina asked, her voice almost harshly, as though the question were a puzzle she'd been turning over in her mind for days, trying and failing to determine the answer.
Remei was seated on an old log by the campfire, carefully cleaning her equipment, and she looked up in surprise at Pallegina's rather sudden approach.
"Handle what?" she asked, her face scrunched up in confusion, and that same confusion evident in her voice.
Pallegina dropped down on the log next to her, her golden eyes bright and sharp. "All of it. Being a Watcher, being awakened. Knowing you are slowly dying while all the while Thaos plots to kill you himself."
"Not thinking about it helps," Remei answered brightly before turning her attention back to the stiletto she was sharpening.
Pallegina crossed her arms. "That doesn't answer my question." She sounded like a teacher interrogating a wayward pupil.
Remei set the knife down and turned to Pallegina, tapping her chin with her index finger, clearly feigning being deep in thought. "I got it," she said after a moment, snapping her fingers. "Other people's misfortunes always cheer me up."
Pallegina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Is it impossible for you to answer a question without sarcasm?"
"Yes, actually," Remei replied, her tone perky.
Getting a look at Pallegina's less than thrilled expression, Remei sighed and held up her hands.
"All right, all right. I'll try to answer your question seriously," her fingers forming quotation marks as she said the word distastefully, "this time. Irritated you is one of your scarier flavors. Shame it doesn't work on Durance, he –"
At Pallegina's glare she stopped. "Right, getting off topic. I guess I've just never really thought about it. It's just sort of how I've always been."
She paused, chewing her lower lip, and spending a long moment looking into the fire, the flickering light casting long shadows over her face. This time she was being genuinely introspective, or at least as close as she ever got.
"I guess it's just that I know that no matter how awful things look at the moment, they always have a way of working out. They always have," she began slowly, speaking so quietly at first that Pallegina almost didn't hear her.
"I mean, when I first developed my cipher powers, I was terrified, but I never would have survived this long without them. Or when I was six, a pregnant raccoon took over the trash pile I was living in, and things looked pretty bleak, but then we ended up becoming really good friends."
Pallegina didn't quite have time to digest that last remark before Remei finally turned to face her, her voice louder and more confident, a grin on her face. "And now, yeah, all that stuff you mentioned is happening, but because of it I've also got a real home and real friends, maybe even something like a family. I call that a bargain."
Pellagina cocked her head to the side, her inner eyelid fluttering for a moment, her features thoughtful.
Eventually, she gave Remei a warm smile. "That is a lovely way to see the world."
"It's how the world actually is," Remei replied simply.
Pallegina sighed and looked out into the dark world surrounding them. "I hope you're right."
The smile on Remei's face turned impish. "Is this the part where we hug it out?"
"No."