He can't quite find it in himself to stop him. "Were you okay they didn't - they didn't touch you, right -"

"No. Threatened to if we tried to leave but didn't." Snuggle.

Shiver. Hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"I'm okay - I love you -"

"I love you and I was so scared for you and I mean to keep you safer, from now on - what a terrible species - you know, they didn't infest you or Ruviri because my Yeerk thought you'd instantly co-opt one -"

"We're very dangerous, redmages. Seductive and stuff." Squeeze.

"And they're desperately lonely, all of them, though I'd feel worse for them if they, ah, handled it differently. It is fitting for their weakness to be love, anyway."

"Very storyish."

"If Eru had anything to do with this I am going to personally rip him into tiny pieces. Don't think he did, though. Gave the Valar a bunch of new powers to handle it with."

"Do they keep them or was that temporary?"

"Think they keep them. They're using the indestructibility-area-effect one for something, wasn't closely tracking what. Can I just - hold you and sing, for a while..."

"Of course. All yours."

"All the deep understanding, none of the using it to enslave everyone I love." And he sings.

And Theodore knocks on Cam's door.

The door opens.

"Some moron left me the only untraumatized member of this family so now I have to do all of the responsibility shit and it's not gonna last two days but - can we talk -"

"Sure, come in."

In. "Are you upset with Timothy or just with the shit slug sitting in his head -"

"Just the slug. But I really don't want to be around it."

"I mean, me neither, I think they evict you from this place for murder and at some point I would be inspired to murder. But - okay, it doesn't look like Timothy is making any moves to get shitslug transferred. And maybe he is invisibly doing that but - also maybe he spent all his room to maneuver?"

"I suppose I could lure him out of the secure area, kill them both, and summon Timothy."

"Usually I am the first one to suggest that solution to problems. Yeah, you could do that."

"Do you think Timothy'd appreciate it?"

" - I mean, if he thought you would do it he couldn't have gotten this far at all but I don't know how to reason about stuff like that - I am also worried he just kind of gave himself preferences compatible with getting along with shitslug and what Timothy-before would have wanted is not the same thing as what Timothy-now would want...."

Shiver.