Actually, Mina frequently felt the need to justify herself to Rupert. It was something she appreciated in their friendship -- that he had become a genuinely close and personal friend, someone to keep her on the rails because there was someone she was afraid to let down.

"What's this?" she murmurs, tracing that much-discussed jaw with her fingertips. It's a non-answer. Soothing. Sweet. Loving the looming.