[He sucks in a slow breath. You're afraid of being like him. Of course, they've met each other on that front more than once, haven't they? Both of them understand that struggle all too well, the shadow of that person hanging over their lives, and the fear of discovering just how far it extends through their skin and inside themselves.]

...Am I doing it again? Throwing myself away, for the sake of the goal? ...I am...that's just a different way of killing myself to win, isn't it...