Getting settled into the seat for takeoff seemed more difficult than usual, but Marceline couldn’t quite pin down why. She grudgingly admitted to herself that she didn’t have the energy or motivation to identify which of the many factors contributing to her stress was closest to the surface at that particular moment. In reality, however, she knew that it didn’t matter. She would grit her teeth and just get through this flight the same way she had with so many others up to that point in her career. There would be no one to attend to her (or any of the other passengers for that matter) and so Marceline unzipped the right chest pocket of her flight suit to fish out the snack gel she had stashed there just before boarding. She wouldn’t be able to eat all of her emotions away, but she was counting on the calories and the protein at least to help her fall asleep quickly.