I'm glad he came home. [ Jim doesn't ask her why she's not with him. He can understand well enough, how scared you can be for someone and still be frustrated with them. Still need time to process, time away, even if in your heart there's nowhere you'd rather be than by their side. Emotions were tricky that way, contradictory to the extreme.

Whatever the case, Gwen was always welcome here. So instead of asking, instead of pressing, Jim continues scooping the dough, making imprecise lines of doughy balls on the tray. Better to let her open up in her own time. That's how this worked, with them - and Jim was usually the one to start. ]

I've never baked cookies before. Not like this. [ There's too much dough on one of his cookies, so he splits it and tries to roll it again. ] I knew an Admiral once who insisted cooking manually was fun, but I never believed him. I think I'm getting it now, though.