"I'd like you to finish that sentence, please," Lucy said. Her brown eyes were cold, and there was an edge laced into in her words. Cobra's mouth went dry.
"Look, look…forget about it. You can go on your way." He stepped out of the way, gesturing as if pointing her onwards. "I remember the pact. No unnecessary things–"
"No, I want you to explain to me. If you think that the ending of that sentence is unnecessary you are very wrong."
There was another moment of silence, in which Cobra tried very hard not to have anything else to say. But there was a certain paradox when it came to words. When one was spoken, it became infinitely easier to say another, even if that first one was the hardest one to speak in existence. And when some of those words had been held back for a very long time…his tongue glided with precision as he spoke, offering no resistance. "Because taking it on helps distract from yourself. From all the times you think you're weak, to all the times you screwed up, all the times you," he could see her eyes beginning to waver but he was too far gone now, "got hurt yourself and thought you might as well die as to not be worth all the trouble."
More silence. Cobra hated silence. Because to him, it was never. Just. Silent.