She rubbed Nuriko's back for a moment, then shifted her arm to loop around her shoulders and hug her a little. Just saying a thing would be all right was never going to be the magic bullet that made it all right right now, because that magic bullet didn't exist.

Maybe it was for the best. She'd never been much for magic. Or bullets, for that matter.

"It's kind of a complicated story, and not all of it is my story," she said. "But maybe it'd help you think about things that aren't, um, unfortunate phrasing."