"Yeah, it's pretty," she agrees in a soft voice, almost as if she's embarrassed to be saying so. But she still leads Steve to the ticket booth, buys admission for the two of them, then leads him inside.

They enter a tunnel first, the regular entrance to the zoo, she figures, even though she's never been here before. The support beams are all wrapped up in lights, and overhead is a colour changing net of lights, a rainbow chasing itself as it moves down to the end of the tunnel and then back again.

"What do you think? Lights on the animals, too?" she asks, pressing her lips into a smile as she glances up at Steve.