Lia watched him rub his hands together, but she then took his hands again, massing the palms with her strong thumbs. The whole time, she watched how his skin took the ashes: sometimes they stayed on the surface, gritty on his skin; but in others, she was able to rub them down, as if they were a part of him.
After a quiet moment, she bent his right wrist back, making the skin buckle with wrinkle rings and lines. "Seven...but you're closer to...ginny," she began. She looked at two other creases. "Have you always l looked up to Bill and Charlie?"