Velocity looked up at him with a start. "You-" Her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment as she realized where that statement had been going, and looked away. The expression on his face felt like something private she wasn't supposed to see. She wished again, not for the first time, that things were at least a little easier for her friends.

"He shouldn't have to," she said in an undertone, shoulders hunching to towards her audials. "But... Windblade told me once that wishing our people lived lives where nothing bad ever happened to them would be taking away their choices, or... words to that effect."