Pepper forgot most of the time that because she had worked so hard to be 'one of the boys' when she was little, it had made her a bit callous about some things. Like what might really hurt a person's feelings. When she was little, she didn't care so much - if they couldn't deal, it was their fault, right? But now things were too important to be insensitive. "I didn't know so much was goin' on that day. Guess I should 'ave figured." Then a completely random memory came to mind. "Y'know, someone peed on one of the gardenia bushes. I'm not trimming it. Not 'less it's clean."

She remembered the tightrope walkers. For months after the circus came to town she'd tried to mimic their act on sidewalk curbs, playground equipment. She was terrible at it. At uni, her stage combat instructor had actually told her to take karate to stay on her feet, find equilibrium. It had helped. "I have better balance now," she told him, not quite joking. "I won't make you fall."

Friend time sounded good. "Campin' or summat. Somethin' far away from everythin'. Just us." It brought up something that had been niggling in the back of her mind, though. She crawled across the bed and sat next to Adam, frowning. "Do you know what's goin' on with Brian? Somethin's different, but I dun't want to make him upset by askin'." Then she elbowed him in the stomach, a little gentler than usual. "And don't bother denyin' that you told Wensley and Brian to look after me. They've been playin' tag keepin' watch over me all week. I should punish you for it."