tear me to pieces, skin to bone

"You know exactly what you were doing. And that was for their benefit, not yours." Again, Loren's voice and expression were both tightly controlled, but tension was creeping into his posture. And he couldn't prevent Astra's concerned bleats. Still digging, he paused and gave Korbin a flat look. "And what would they say if I pushed back or retaliated against them? Or if I asked them politely to stop?" Even if the Hale was falling back into their old patterns didn't mean the healer was. If anything, the more quips and snark Korbin sent Loren's way, the more closed off he became. Resuming his work, he sighed as he encountered another fallen rock. Setting the shovel down, he cleared the edges of it as best he could. However, even then, when he bent down to lift it, he couldn't manage it on his own. LOREN Not quite an open book