"Can't. He doesn't know how. Several people have grown to love Symon Graves because he is a fire, drawing moths to his warmth. But Symon knows very little of how to properly care and love someone, to understand their emotional idiosyncrasies. And his love is a cruel thing." She knew that first-hand, in seeing the aftermath...and watching him with Waver.

Neria loosed a quiet breath. "I know those things, though, even if I can't say I draw people to me in the same fashion." There was something clinical about the way she said it. Quiet, matter-of-fact. To his question, though, she frowned further. "They...just let me see things in a detached manner, I suppose. As he might. Nothing emotional about it. That's why it's--"

More and more, that voice sounded less like Symon and more like herself. She sighed, pulled herself closer to him. "They've helped me focus better, if nothing else."