Yeah. She'd want it to be both. [ his own expression briefly twists into a smile, full of warmth and affection, albeit truly twisted a little on his face because of upset, of failure. maybe if he'd been at the theater, instead of sitting here at the pyre last night. maybe if he'd gone back "home" earlier, rather than working on concoctions at the fireside, using it for light and for its flame.

maybe aventurine would be alright. maybe he could've done something.

but what about death? where were they? where were any of their masked overseers? ]

... you're not the only one. [ him, too. and others. ] Maybe the trick they used to hide us meetin' 'em didn't work as well as they thought. Or some other cult folk found out.