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[hearthwarming]

"Um... How does this thing work? Oh! If you're in need of any healing, please reach out to me!"
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[hearthwarming]

[ She looks away. ]

...I didn't know how deeply he could... [ reach into the depths of my mind. ] He made me see things that I... [ feared. And people that I failed. People that my healer's hands could not save. ] And...

[ I'm still scared. ]

[striketwice]

[ It would almost be funny how quickly Alec "I don't do hugs" Brennan has changed his stance on that, if not for the circumstances leading to his change of heart (or lack and then return thereof) being so damn shitty.

He reaches over and gathers her close again. If she needs to cry it out, he'll let her. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Oh, she absolutely needs to cry it out. She hasn't really slept since then - NO ONE will recognize you when I'm DONE - and once again her own desire to be exceedingly Fine and There For Everyone bites her fully in the tail.

She is not okay. ]

I-I'm sorry, Alec. You're the one whose heart got taken away, but I...

[striketwice]

Hey. [ Quiet, as he bends a little to get in her field of vision. ] I'm not the only one who suffered because of it. You don't have to apologize to me, or anyone.

[hearthwarming]

[ Much as she wants to keep avoiding his gaze, he's making it difficult to. Beneath it all, it's also just so... damn good to see emotions spelled out across his features. That hadn't been the case last time she saw him. ]

I'm just... I'm so glad you're back. That's all I want to focus on, now. When I saw you without your heart, it was so...

[ She draws in a sharp breath. ]

What Henry did terrifies me. It pains me to think he might have done that to others. [ he did ] But in the end, whenever I think about it, I... He was grieving. That's why I can't... I can't bring myself to hate him.

[striketwice]

Ori... I know I keep telling you that big heart of yours is gonna get your in trouble, and it did, and even after all that, you're still one of the kindest people I know.

[hearthwarming]

[ She shakes her head. ]

Don't get me wrong, I... I'm not sure I would ever want to be alone in a room with him again, but... If that had happened to someone I cared so much about, I...

[ Well, she probably wouldn't indiscriminately attack people on sight, but still. ]

Kindness wasn't something I saw a lot of when I was very young, so I know... if I wanted to see kindness in the world, it would have to come from me. So...

[striketwice]

I don't blame you. I— I'm not here to justify his actions. Not by a long shot.

[ It's complicated. Alec would have also lashed out, but certainly not at friend and foe alike. ]

Are we cool? You and me?

[hearthwarming]

[ She just looks at him with a puzzled expression. ]

I— Of course we're still "cool," Alec. You're my friend. It broke my heart to see you without yours...

[striketwice]

I remember it all. What it was like. The look on your face...

[ He frowns. ]

I didn't feel anything at the time, but now I feel fucking awful.

[hearthwarming]

I... I can't even begin to imagine, Alec. I... I hate that feeling that I couldn't do anything to help you.

How did you get it back...?

[striketwice]

My heart?

[ Ah. That's a loaded question that he's not sure how best to answer. ]

... Henry.

[hearthwarming]

Oh...

[ ...Henry had been the most distraught (understatement) at Alec's fate. It would stand to reason that he would be the one to see to it that his heart is returned... ]

...Of course. I'm... I'm glad he was able to restore it, then...

[striketwice]

I— you don't know we're in a relationship, do you?

[ THINGS HE NEGLECTED TO TELL HIS BESTIE. ]

[hearthwarming]

N-No, I mean, I realize that now, but—

[ ]

[striketwice]

... But he scared the crap out of you.

I'm beginning to think I didn't get all the details. What happened?

[hearthwarming]

As I said, I... I was in the graveyard. I was trying to see how Yatagarasu and Basilisk came out, and... Henry was there.

[ Wrong place, wrong time. But Oriphi has not breathed a word of the details to a single soul, not even to Tighnari and Aki, not even when they saw the state she had been in afterwards. Things around here are already such a mess, and she doesn't want to create any further tensions by causing them to worry, especially when the latter has a tendency towards vengeance...

After a contemplative pause, she forges on. She can talk about it to Alec. He would understand - does understand Henry, more than anyone else in this prison. But when she speaks, it's all tentative, like she's saying it all for the first time. Because she is. ]

I tried to talk him down, but he used his... Telekinesis. He... My shoulder had been dislocated in the first round and I think... It felt like he knew. [ He re-dislocated it, in other words! ] And then he reached in to my mind and...

[ Her gaze to her lap, where her hands ball into fists, gasping at the fabric of her skirt. ]

My healing can't save everyone. Even after all this time, I... I only have so much magic in me, and... He made me see them. The people I couldn't save. Then I held him down with vines, and I turned into a wolf to try and get away but... That's when he started screaming in my mind. About... About how he was going to tear me apart.

[ To put it lightly! ]

[striketwice]

[ He watches her, eyes following the tense lines of her body language down to her hands. Alec hesitates for half a second, he's still not terribly good at this sort of thing, but eventually, he does reach over to rest one of his hands over hers. ]

No wonder. That kind of thing would scare the hell out of anybody.

[hearthwarming]

It's... Not the first time I've ever been made to see such visions.

[ But it's not like she's used to them. The Trial of the Heart she underwent was so long ago, too... ]

But now you know. I had to enrage the spirits of nature to get away, but I think... He was still suffering the effects of the punishments, too.

[striketwice]

As much as I hate to say it, that migraine probably saved you.

[ What a very weird blessing in disguise. ]

[hearthwarming]

... Sphinx played that card. I'm sorry.

[ She knows that it did, in fact, save her, but still - she can't possibly hold onto this guilt. ]

[striketwice]

Don't be. You probably saved more than your own life with that.

[ It certainly put a damper on Henry's effectiveness. ]

Besides, we ended up having to play one on you guys, too.

[hearthwarming]

[ She sighs a bit in relief upon hearing that. It's too bad their cards didn't end up canceling each other out like Basilisk and Sphinx's cards did, but... Again, the migraines ended up being something of a blessing... ]

You're probably right... and, ah... I understand. Everyone had to make hard choices...

[ Of course, some teams sure did Make Some Choices. ]

Did... Did Henry attack anyone else?

[striketwice]

[ Ori, you can't ask him that. Now he has to answer. ]

Yeah. Three others.

[hearthwarming]

[ suffer ]

Three? Alec... Three others?