[ she is cracking, fissuring. he sees it plainly, saw it in her desperation before to guide him, to hold him together, to convince him all that haunts him has no power. she's wrong that this town doesn't have such power, of course, but that's not what's important seeing her in such a state.
(it is fear and guilt weighing him down, a self-loathing and self-doubt amplified turning his gut. he cannot save her; not his daughter and not cami, in all probability; not anyone he cares for when enemies are nearer and nearer.)
he knows, the cords tense and visible in his neck, that she suffers. he cannot allow it to happen for reasons soft and caring, and she cannot slip as much as he cannot. ] Cami. [ he calls to her, firm and fierce to soothe and demand her attention. ] Cami, you're right. [ he'll wait however long it takes for her to look at him, or he will persuade her until she does. his face is ghostly pale in the low light, and though his words seek to be reassuring, to be comforting, they are calculated. ] You're right. You've left them at peace. [ she has buried them both, mourned and grieved, and he wants nothing more than for their peace -- her peace -- to remain undisturbed, but he has his doubts they will. what he knows: ] You will survive this. [ he says it with conviction he must believe for her sake. she has survived, despite every hand she's been given, in every brave choice she's made. by her hand, his, or another's, she has survived. ]
no subject
(it is fear and guilt weighing him down, a self-loathing and self-doubt amplified turning his gut. he cannot save her; not his daughter and not cami, in all probability; not anyone he cares for when enemies are nearer and nearer.)
he knows, the cords tense and visible in his neck, that she suffers. he cannot allow it to happen for reasons soft and caring, and she cannot slip as much as he cannot. ] Cami. [ he calls to her, firm and fierce to soothe and demand her attention. ] Cami, you're right. [ he'll wait however long it takes for her to look at him, or he will persuade her until she does. his face is ghostly pale in the low light, and though his words seek to be reassuring, to be comforting, they are calculated. ] You're right. You've left them at peace. [ she has buried them both, mourned and grieved, and he wants nothing more than for their peace -- her peace -- to remain undisturbed, but he has his doubts they will. what he knows: ] You will survive this. [ he says it with conviction he must believe for her sake. she has survived, despite every hand she's been given, in every brave choice she's made. by her hand, his, or another's, she has survived. ]