Brodersen and Caitlin sat silent together. The night waned.
Finally he said, “Toni was a lot like you.”
Being a bard, she knew when not to speak. She only gave him whatever was hers to give. At first he was passive, then he tried to respond and she let him understand that that was not needful, then slowly he realized with his whole being that the past was gone but she was here.
Later they did sleep a while.