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"No inbetweens? How is it no one's had a heart attack, yet, then from all the ups and downs?" Her tone was jesting, but her eyes spoke of actual curiosity. "Still, it's good to know the facts of the matter on that." She added a small, conservative amount of honey, and gently stirred it in, her other hand curling around the hot cup, like it was comforting to hold, and she took a slow, deep breath, letting the scent of the steeping herbs flow over her.

She turned her face back to focus fully on him at his question, no emotion on her face for a very long moment, studying him as if to determine the motivations behind such a question, perhaps... Or perhaps just to decide what she wanted to say. Her expression remained unchanged as she finally replied. "It's certainly a part of why I came. That life was destroying what little will to live I had left at that point" She then smiled a little, and nodded. "I'm certainly willing to work, as needed. So far it's been far easier then back home, the duties I've been assigned. Even the ones that left me aching were less stressful, long term."

"Questions..." Her lips pursed, and she gently tapped a finger on the table in thought. Finally, she settled on some, and refocused again. "How? How is it mere emotions are so very powerful they can create beings that live to feast on us, and those self same emotions?" She shook her head, still having a great deal of trouble with that one very key piece. She'd been agnostic at best before she came here. Now? She had no idea what she believed. "It seems so impossible, and insane, and yet here we are..."

She sat up to listen, very intent on the information he was giving her. She sipped her tea as she did, her mind quietly filing all the information he gave her away. Her expression when he brought up Christmas, and beings that live off of joy spoke eloquently of a mix of disbelief, shock, and disgust. "Gods, is it like... the worst parts of the sappiest Christmas movies ever? Or something else that I, having not experienced it, can't understand?" She frowned, wondering how such a cycle of ugliness really could happen. "But I suppose it makes sense. I wonder if there's... other places, too, from other emotions and events we've created, like a Valentine's world or something."

"Am I allowed in there?" She wasn't at all sure where she was allowed, with her very limited clearance, and she'd figured they wouldn't want some one with no knowledge near the labs. "If so, I'd love to. I miss learning..."

His question, however, caused the emotionless mask to reappear, but if he was observing with care, he might see how her hand on her mug shook some. "Unfortunately, due to having to feed myself from my 15th birthday on, I had limited time to study. I managed to keep my grades up, but... Circumstances changed on my sixteenth, and I had to graduate early, so I could afford to survive." She was staring out the window again, trying to keep any emotions out of her voice. "So, sadly, no, I did not get the chance to study anywhere. College was outside of my reach."

Her brows rose, part of her wondering how bad it would be, the rest of her resolutely convinced that she did not in fact want to know.

She tilted her head back, thinking about it all, her eyes distant. "I'll start in the library, then. Educating myself on all of this can, at the worst, at least help me to understand. At best, it might help me survive that extra time it takes to help save some one." Clearly dying on duty didn't exactly terrify her.

Running her fingers along her cup, she nodded slowly. "I... might do that. I had originally planned to get a higher education, and that's something I regret not having the chance to have done." Her eyes were a little sad at that. "I had always hoped to show I was smart enough for that. Well, no degrees here, perhaps, but I can at least keep learning for as long as I live. Thank you for that suggestion, I feel somewhat better about that part."

"Happier...?" That was a concept she hadn't even taken into consideration yet, and her expression went a different sort of blank this time, the blank of introspective confusion. "I... I'm certainly happier then I have been since I was 16 or so, but I don't know how much happiness is worth, when it can be ripped away from you, so very easily, especially when your happiness involves caring for others."

"I'll keep that in mind." It wasn't something she'd learned to do, with how rare the truliy happy moments in her life had been. "For what it's worth, despite some of the unpleasant sides, I've generally found the people I interact with to be less judgemental here. Then again, I doubt that most who find their way here have the best backstory, so to speak."

His question actually warned him an amused, and friendly, grin from the younger woman. "Can'tcha guess? I've sort of got a theme going here." She gestured at her hair, clothes, and accessories. "Astronomy. Astrophysics, maybe, if I could make the cut."

She looked excited by that, her eyes getting bright with hope. "I had given up the idea, honestly, because it seemed so... Unlikely to be useful, here But if some one is here who can teach me, that would... would be immense." Her hands trembled in excitement, and she gave him a smile of incredible gratitude for this information. "You have made my day much better... And to think I came to apologize to you. I didn't expect to have such amazing things out of it, and I... I really appreciate what you've told me today, all of it, really." She drank some more of her tea, then added "Thank you, so very much." with bright eyes.

She finished her tea, and smiled at him again. "I'll keep that in mind. So far, most of whom I've gotten to know are about as new to this place as myself, so meeting some one who is both experienced and willing to help is an incredible blessing."

She nodded at the recommendation. "I'll do that once I feel a little more settled in. I want to be as sure of the ground under my feet as is possible, before adding another thing that might cause it to shift." She sighed, wishing stability was a real thing, but never having seen evidence of it. The gift of the tea made her smile brightly, again, and she accepted it, more then grateful. "I appreciate it. I find chamomile just relaxing enough to prevent me from getting overly worked up, on a bad day." She paused, and snorted. "Probably could have used some post Dares. Ah well." She ran her fingers over the box, and said "Thank you again, Melvin. Friends are something I treasure, rare as they have been in the past, and I hope to count you amongst the ones I make here. I probably should go, though, I've been monopolizing your time, and you surely have plenty to do."