No matter the order, the game’s unfairly stacked

Hotaru

I know they'll be coming to find me soon
But I fear I'm getting used to being held by you

It's not a phrase she turns on him with cruel intentions. Hotaru had suffered through the same mire he currently finds himself in, blaming herself for Atlas' death at every turn, incapable of forgiving herself. She didn't even have a dragon or a war to blame - only her own traitorous emotional stupidity. But when she'd finally done it and forgiven herself, it had become abundantly clear that it was the only thing that could have ever given her peace. Peace she wants for him. Desperately. But she cannot force him to have that realization, no matter how she might wish it.

I know you will, is her soft response, her own accent more a byproduct of regality than his own Korofian regional tones. I believe in you. Even when you do not. A phrase meant to comfort instead of deride. When he cannot see the light, she will guide him through it, even if she cannot brighten the way for his eyes.

He reaches for her and Petronella both, and the slightly cool wetness on his palm from his own tears transfers onto her cheek as he tilts her face upward. She presses into him, greedy to be near despite her patience as he'd taken a moment for himself. Foreheads pressed together, the ripple of her surprise and bittersweet love is more easily concealed on her face as the Korofian term is murmured in the scant space between them. A gift she had not let herself assume she'd hear again. Lifting her own hands, she squeezes the back of his neck and his forearm in turn, just firmly enough to translate how she wishes to keep him here in her grasp forever. "Always, my love," Ru whispers in turn, the squeeze of her fingers a solemn promise. And only once they've spent a few breaths simply holding one another does she move to take care of him. Do you want to shower, or go straight to bed? Wait - have you eaten? It wouldn't be the first time they had dinner in bed, but she would see to it that he was fed before they retreated away from the world for the night.

I used to sing about being free
Oh, baby, look what you've done to me