[ it isn't the worst thing he's done to a person. his blade has run through the bodies of innocent children. of quaking mothers. of desperate fathers. he left the world with nothing, and hadn't even stayed around to take the fall for it.

he speaks bluntly: ]

I panicked. You wrapped your hands around my throat and I... [ he blanks. he doesn't want to understand why he did what he did. the numbness fades to pain if he does. ] felt something. From a long time ago.

[ but then he looks up, and he holds her gaze. ]

You don't want to do that to me because you're a good person.