[ The pause before she answers is more anxious this time, like she's struggling to verbalize. Nothing that she felt is something that exists in words, at least not ones she knows. But she wants to explain. ]

I don't know what I felt. [ Her voice is soft, her brow knit. ] It was loud. And bright. Just... noise and colors. I couldn't pick anythin' out, it was like it was all swirlin' together inside my head. And it went on forever. I don't know how long I fell. It couldn't've been that long but it seemed like a billion years. None of it ever stopped.

[ And it didn't feel meaningless, it all felt like something more massive than she could wrap her mind around. It reminds her a bit of the boat ride from Willy Wonka, except less clear and minus Gene Wilder singing creepily. But that's not a reference she give, nor would he understand the concept of "cartoon time travel scene", so she just doesn't try to illustrate anymore. But she adds, ] I went to the Singularity a few days after I came back. Not even all the way there, just to the crater. I wanted to see -- just see what would happen. It comes back when I get closer to it. All the colors and the noise. Like just in the background of my head.

[ Her eyes search his face for a long moment. Not that she believed he would be indifferent to her disappearance, but he seems so much more rattled than she thought he might be. It makes something in her chest clench, and she reaches for him, wraps her arms around his neck and presses herself close to him. She lets out a heavy breath, her eyelids lowering a bit as she settles her head next to his. ]