Carina

"It's okay to feel bad," Elias said softly, but he was starting to feel like a hypocrite. He sighed. "Are you trying to repress feeling bad?"

"I guarantee," Elias said slowly, "that in that moment, blaming you was the last thing that crossed his mind." He sighed. "It's not easy... and it's not your fault. And ...

"Did he ever blame you?" he asked.

Even through his hazy and throbbing mind, he listened intently, trying to absorb every word. Kieran was someone close to Jerica. He almost had his hand cut off for stealing ...

Elias tried to remember who Kieran was, but last night was fuzzy. All he remembered from that info dump was that she once lost a finger nail. "Kieran," he repeated ...

Elias noted Jerica's tears, but he didn't place any more attention to it than he needed to. He figured Jerica didn't like to be vulnerable and called out when she ...

Elias hummed this over. "How many people?" he asked gently.

"Says who?"

Elias smiled a little at her comment, but then it faded when Jerica's voice and words turned solemn. He wasn't sure there was anything he could say to make her ...

"Clearly that's not true," Elias said without hesitation. "An emotionless husk wouldn't hug or cry."

"Not whine," he corrected. "Talk. And not deflect." He paused. "Like you're doing now." He knew he wasn't any better, really. But he wasn't the one with the nightmares.

"Well, Aerik is a good man, so I'll take that as a compliment," Elias said with a slight smile, hoping to catch her eyes, but failing. He didn't know Aerik ...

Elias paused for a bit, not wanting to say anything brash or impulsive. He wanted to make sure Jerica heard sincere advice. "I've found that nightmares come up because of ...

"That's okay," Elias said softly, restraining himself to not reach out to her again. He would rather not get hit again, and the images were likely still surfacing through her ...

Elias thought he was helping her out, but then she punched him on the chest. He winced in pain as he stumbled back, hand over his chest. That was surely ...