Little smile.

"Also he tortures people. So. There's. That."

"Yes, that's... a troubling quality in a potential ally."

"No kidding." Sigh. Hug.

She is such a mess.

"I am such a mess."

Hug.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Invent a time machine?" she half-jokes, but the last syllable cracks a little and sounds more like a hint of a sob.

...Miles hugs her some more. "Sorry," he murmurs.

Whimper-cling.

"I feel like I've woken up in someone else's life."

"Yeah. Understandably so."

Hug hug hug.

"Except it's not, not really, I remember everything I did, all of the logic and reasoning and how it all. Just. Made. Sense. It was fine to toss people aside like they were trash when they stopped being interesting and it was fine to take notes on the specific magical gain someone got from their torture victim and it was fine to play along to an obsessive controlling self-centered broken and twisted mockery of my sister not because I liked her - because I didn't - but because it was useful to have a powerful vampire that was willing to kill anyone that bothered me without me having to get my hands dirty. I was a horrible person living in a lovely little house living a tidy little life and doing meaningful work that mattered to absolutely no one but me and the rest of the world could burn for all I cared.

"And I'm distancing myself - or, well, trying to - but I can't."

It looks like she might be tempted to say more, but now she is too busy sobbing.

...hugs.

He is so good at those. She is so grateful.

She'll just be here. Sobbing.

Yeah. He can keep hugging her.

"S-sorry, I'm sorry, I hate being this much of a mess. I hate dumping it all on you when I'm already dragging you into my problems, I hate that there's no easy solution to any of it, that the best I've got is just a 'maybe everything will not be completely terrible' button that I can maybe reach if I try but I'm too busy crying."

"Solving other people's problems is practically my life's work," he says. "I'm fine with it."

Whine.

"God, you're so reasonable, it's terrifying."

"I take great pride in my reasonableness!" Hug.

Clingy snuggle.

"You could just snap my heart into itty bitty little pieces so easily," she mumbles. "That's what I was afraid of earlier, with the, the thing, that the 'um' would lead into 'actually on second thought' and I'd have another mess to clean up because I need more of those right now."

"Well, I - would really prefer not to do that," he says. "I like your heart intact."

"Yes, me too, I only have the one."

Hug.

"We'll just have to take good care of it, then."

She makes a sound that resembles an affirmative. Also a whine. Yvette can multitask.

"I also hate being clingy. Being clingy is annoying. I would like to stop," she grumbles.

Hug.

Yes okay fine. Hug.

She's stopped crying, at least.

Okay.

She gives herself some time to just hug him, and not worry about needing to have herself put back together for a little while.

But she can't linger like that forever, can she. She can fall back to pieces when she's done. Until then, she has to resemble functionality.

"Ugh. Well. I suppose that was going to happen eventually anyway," she sighs, squeezing him and then releasing him. "Pity I can't schedule my emotional breakdowns in advance or anything."