"Well, the relentless pessimism isn't helping," she pointed out. "If you need a moment to regain your equilibrium, go ahead, but we should at least try to complete the exam."

She glanced up at the mostly-empty meter over her head, poking idly at it as if that would make it refill. "Besides, if we can't even these out at least a little, we're going to be irritated with each other for days, you know?"