"I have questions."
"Ask them while I undress you."
Her fingers returned to my belt. Worked the buckle with the kind of expertise that came from experience.
"The blood work. The delays. The favors you're calling in. What do you actually want in exchange?"
"I want you to win." The belt came free. She dropped it to the floor. "I want you to sign with Vanguard. I want you to become famous enough that disappearing you becomes impossible. I want you to succeed where every other anomaly in this system has failed."
"And?"
"And I want to be there when you do. As your professor. As your mentor. As whatever else we decide to become." Her hands found the waistband of my pants. Paused. "I want to matter to you, Rome. Not because I helped you survive. Because you chose to let me in."
"You already matter."
"Not the way I want to."
