No. [The word comes with more force than expected, spilling from his tongue without any conscious thought on his part. He shakes his head, brow furrowed, and distress clear on his face before it washes away and becomes something more wistful. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet.]
Not penance. There is no penance for me. This is only about them. [He refuses to pretend that trying to fix one of his mistakes will somehow cleanse him. Even if he succeeds, even if everyone lives, it still happened. All of that blood will always be on his hands.
But his eyes drift to Kirigan then and his expression softens.
He does not feel the triumphant glee of having won some truth from this man. All he feels is empathetic pain.]
no subject
Not penance. There is no penance for me. This is only about them. [He refuses to pretend that trying to fix one of his mistakes will somehow cleanse him. Even if he succeeds, even if everyone lives, it still happened. All of that blood will always be on his hands.
But his eyes drift to Kirigan then and his expression softens.
He does not feel the triumphant glee of having won some truth from this man. All he feels is empathetic pain.]
I'm sorry. I wish it wasn't something we shared.