“I mean, I don’t want it to sound like we’re all codependent or anything like that,” Beau said, fiddling with the hilt of her costume rapier. “I don’t want us to be. But it’s just like, I don’t know. It’s not like I can’t function without you or anything; just want you to be there.”

A warm little smile crept across her face, and she added in a near whisper, “Everything’s better when you’re there with me, Kar.”