There’s worry that morphs into a softness she can’t quite name. Because she understood a bit more now and was proud of Ilya for actually acknowledging it. “Then we cross that off our list. It doesn’t matter.”
That phrase still sends a puff of air through Ilya. Like a physical h!t that almost felt healing. He was still unused to mattering. To being loved. To being seen as good. He sighs. Honesty and shame in his voice with a smile that he hopes is comforting.“I find them… unsettling.”