[ Trying to deign the purpose of pain and cruelty isn’t something she’ll even attempt. There’s no real answer she can give with a hope of being accurate. Some things are simply beyond their control— as strange as it is to admit it. What matters is how they respond to it, to pick up the pieces of themselves and support each other. ]

If you said you weren’t hurting.... I’d think something was wrong. [ She offers gently, beginning with a soft tone and her fingers interlacing with his. ]

But if you said you were in pain, if you said you were angry, if you said you were sad, if you said you don’t believe it— that’s something you have a right to feel, and...

I’d want to hold you through it all. [ Like she is doing now. ]