Quinn’s words sunk in like fishhooks, sent pangs of guilt through them, then dredged them up to the surface. It had been a very, very long time since either of them had thought of an enemy the way Quinn did. 

It was like this at the start, Besca knew. A lot of pilots saw themselves like knights, saw themselves as honorable and chivalrous, only ever doing what was necessary. Before long they became disillusioned, and either reveled in the violence for the sake of their fame and glory, or numbed themselves to it. She’d watched it happen to Dahlia, watched her love of piloting curdle on the dueling fields in real time when the Board propped her up as their trump card. 

With Quinn…she didn’t know. She just didn’t. Part of her wanted to believe that this was more meaningful than it seemed to many others—that this sympathy, this mercy wasn’t a fluke, and wouldn’t shrivel up the moment things got truly difficult. Quinn was many things, but she was not a quitter, and, to here Dahlia say it, she wasn’t a killer either. 

The other part of her despised the fact that the world would take advantage of it. They would see weakness where there was good, and hunt it like bloodhounds after dying game. 

Now Quinn wanted to break bread with one of those hounds. 

It was hard to think of Roaki the way Quinn did. But it was Quinn she’d tried to kill, and if [i]she[/i] could forgive something like that, shouldn’t anyone be able to? Perhaps it was beyond her, at least for now. She wouldn’t able to look at that girl and not see someone who wanted Quinn dead. Wanted Dahlia dead. Whether or not she was a monster made by someone else’s hands, she was still a monster. 

“[color=gray]You shouldn’t,[/color]” Besca said. “[color=gray]You hurt her because you had to. If you hadn’t…you know you had no other choice. I won’t say you can’t go, but you can’t treat her like you owe her a debt—she’ll collect on it. Just be careful, that’s all. I just want you to be okay.[/color]”

“[color=skyblue]Yeah…[/color] Dahlia nudged her empty plate aside. “[color=skyblue]Just be okay. I’ll leave my phone on, you call if anything is…off. Or wrong. Okay?[/color]”