[ They should be meaningless words. Just platitudes. And yet... and yet hearing Reinhardtzar say that, hearing the sincerity in Rein's voice, feeling the gentleness in Rein's touch... it reaches something in Cain, makes the words feel light, filling him, instead of just dreary reassurance.

Something new, growing in the soil that's lay fallow all this time. Something sprouting from the dirt, crude and struggling and ugly, but still giving life. Cain finds himself smiling. He wants to believe that. ]

Something rising from the ashes, huh... [ He ducks a little, not to dislodge Reinhardtzar's hand, but to angle himself so that he can find Rein's eyes, make Reinhardtzar meet his gaze, and give Rein that smile. ] I think I'm the one who decided not to let you burn yourself down in the first place, though. So we should probably avoid burning ourselves, don't you think?