She thought she knew, of course she did. She spoke as if she did, but how could she? Glenn Burnie was many things, but forthcoming was hardly one of them. He seemed to comply and even if she suspected he was holding back it was futile to argue now.
“T-there is,” a pleasant, warm and saccharin smile is once again donned. It is a smile that belies her concern for the man, a million other worries, and the problems of a recovering town. It was such a small and magnificent thing, how Genny, in the course of two months, had learned to lie in this way. And to one of the only people who might notice.
“T-there is more, I mean … t-to life, t-than surviving,” her cloak was gathered, opened and wrapped around. “Here, t-things t-t-threaten survival, beasts and nightmares, wars, even one another; without surviving how can one find meaning… or happiness?” Isn’t that what their jobs were, essentially, to make Myrken safe, to give people the chance to survive. Of course thriving was important, but it was a far off horizon that even she had abandoned long ago. After all, three years of talk and the Library was still little better than dilapidated heap, better off condemned. Hadn’t it’s restoration been her goal?
“Good.” Her response was firm and genuinely happy, matching the perfected expression.
“You… may t-think, Genny, t-t-this silly girl, why does she say t-these things. But I… I do worry about you. You... I see a man who sacrifices much and is constantly hurt… but perhaps t-there is pain that can be lessened… scars to be avoided, when we fight t-t-together.” Of course, she must had meant the metaphorical sense, as she was a lousy combatant.
He would let her go, but she stood still a moment longer her smile faltering slight as she busied herself with tying the closure on her cloak, that even as she looked down it would be impossible to see. Her fingers fiddled with it blindly, the motion hardly deft despite the repetition at least a hundred times before.
“Did you see… anything… who it was, did she see… did she, did she know who killed her?” It was an incredibly difficult question to ask, she wasn't going to but for many, many reasons she had to and by her tone she apologized.