If there is one thing Alek will never feel toward Cora, it's pity.
He loathes it with a passion when it's directed at him, and he would never think to extend it toward anyone else. People don't benefit from being pitied, they benefit from being understood and knowing they aren't alone. So when Cora answers him, Alek doesn't make sweeping grand gestures. His eyes don't widen and he doesn't rush to apologize or tell her how awful it is and how sorry he feels she ever had to lose her family that way - even if all of these things are true and he feels them deeply.
No, his reaction is quiet - albeit no less powerful in its intensity - as he listens without interrupting, his hand reaching for her own as it remains holding his wrist. As though willing her grip to loosen, but only so that he can hold her hand instead. "How did you ... ?" his voice trails off as he thinks of how to best word it, but he hopes she understands what he means without it. How did she escape if she was trapped inside along with everyone else?
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He loathes it with a passion when it's directed at him, and he would never think to extend it toward anyone else. People don't benefit from being pitied, they benefit from being understood and knowing they aren't alone. So when Cora answers him, Alek doesn't make sweeping grand gestures. His eyes don't widen and he doesn't rush to apologize or tell her how awful it is and how sorry he feels she ever had to lose her family that way - even if all of these things are true and he feels them deeply.
No, his reaction is quiet - albeit no less powerful in its intensity - as he listens without interrupting, his hand reaching for her own as it remains holding his wrist. As though willing her grip to loosen, but only so that he can hold her hand instead. "How did you ... ?" his voice trails off as he thinks of how to best word it, but he hopes she understands what he means without it. How did she escape if she was trapped inside along with everyone else?