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‘How’d you first find her?’ asked Roman as he scanned the gray stones in front of him, squinting and lifting his lantern up even higher.

‘Heh. I saw her drawing on a big stone monument with a hunk of charcoal. She was just a little kid. Turned out, that stone monument was an important religious symbol in her village, marking passage into the afterlife. She caught hell for that stunt from her parents. Smacked her around like you wouldn’t believe. Tough to watch, even back in those days when child abuse was hardly a concept.’

‘Damn.’

‘That charcoal drawing of hers, though--it had been of fractals. Not that I understood that at the time. Wasn’t until centuries later, looking back, that I realized the significance. But it had been striking enough imagery to make me take notice of this strange little girl who seemed to already be the black sheep of her community. And honestly, I’m not even sure she understood her accomplishment at that time, either.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Stasya was... well, she was probably more brilliant than anyone I’ve ever known--and I’ve known A LOT of people--but at the same time, she was also kinda... stupid, quite frankly. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like to me.’

‘You’ve lost me.’

‘Agh. It was like... she had an intuitive understanding of the world--an ability to perceive patterns and make connections that no one else could. But she had no ability to explain her thought processes. She could solve almost any problem you put in front of her, but she couldn’t teach you how she’d done it. And that really tormented her, I think. Made her feel isolated. On a deep, existential level.’

Roman bobbed his head a little as he tried to imagine that. ‘Hmm. And you called that stupidity? Seems a bit harsh.’

‘In its own way. Social intelligence seems to come easily enough to you, but for some people, it’s a whole different animal. And she struggled with that more than anything else in her life, I think.’

‘...Did you just compliment me?’

‘It’s a shame you’re such a dumbass by every other intellectual metric.’

‘Are you sure your constant insults weren’t what was REALLY tormenting her?’

‘Psh. I was way nicer to her than I am to you.’

‘...That’s still not saying much, honestly.’

‘Oh, quit your whining. You know I love you, right?’

‘Do I?’

‘When you’re not being a dumb bitch, yeah. Of course you know that.’