[SERA — POV]
She was there when he arrived.
She had coffee already — both cups, which was becoming a thing — and the Saturday crossword he'd abandoned, which she'd picked up off the table and started from the top left.
She was halfway down the first column.
He sat across from her and looked at the crossword. "You start at the top."
"The standard approach has value," she said. "You can see how much you know."
He picked up his coffee. "You can also see how much you don't."
"That's also valuable."
He looked at her across the table. She had the specific quality of someone who has just put down a heavy thing and is noticing the absence of the weight — lighter in a way that wasn't quite visible but was present.
"Reprimand," he said.
"On record," she confirmed. "Formally. Forever." She
