"Then I will, too." She has yet to settle on a preferred method of drinking coffee; every option seems to have its merits. It's most enjoyable, Laura's started to decide, to match soeone else's preferences for a cup or two.

Once she's acquired a suitable hunk of cheese, she finds some bread as well, slicing some off the loaf with a well-placed claw. Carrying both over to Holden, she starts making yet more slices, cheese and then bread, and then more cheese, and more bread. They stack up like an absurd sandwich, one layer and then another. It's enough for two people, not one. "How are you?"