[ Bellamy's mind slips in alongside his: a comfortable fit, and an alarming one, in the same moment. This is how hosts lost themselves in one another, he believes. This is how Cathaway became who she-they are now. A many, not a one. Still, it's something he craves as much as he resents - a symbiotic connection deepened by sharing thought and memory. Like brotherhood by mind, rather than blood or pact.
Besides. He rather likes Bellamy. He asks without words, if the Darkling had seen those same children die - and the answer is deep regret and a sharp fury, wound into a wordless sensation. He had seen many, many people die. Children become soldiers, children who never made it to adulthood. People, his people, born into power and hunted for it -- ]
I hope that they will turn to Alina, [ he admits. And the feeling accompanying her name, the first time he had spoken it aloud since arrival, is complex. ]
I hope she knows everything well enough now to keep them safe, in my stead. All of them.
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Besides. He rather likes Bellamy. He asks without words, if the Darkling had seen those same children die - and the answer is deep regret and a sharp fury, wound into a wordless sensation. He had seen many, many people die. Children become soldiers, children who never made it to adulthood. People, his people, born into power and hunted for it -- ]
I hope that they will turn to Alina, [ he admits. And the feeling accompanying her name, the first time he had spoken it aloud since arrival, is complex. ]
I hope she knows everything well enough now to keep them safe, in my stead. All of them.