“It is arrogant of you to assume that I only know your cousins in passing. Perhaps you ought to pay attention more, or at the very least, not make assumptions on their lives without knowing the facts. I did not make a judgement call on Bella’s death. As usual, you believe you are smart to take my words, twist them out of context and make it look like I am the one who is insensitive” she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him, “I just hope that neither of your remaining cousins hear your words. I would imagine they would have something to say about it, as I would, if you had told me my brothers were supposed to get hurt, or worse” she spat, furiously. She and Regulus were used to sparring regularly, and in most cases she could shake his comments off and walk away, but tensions were high. He looked drained and she was in pain still from her injuries. “Then at least I tired! I didn’t sit back, wait for some twisted version of fate to take them and go ‘oh well, never mind, it was their time to die’“.
“What is it with you always trying to fight me on any minute detail? So now you can’t even accept that I know my own family better than you do?” His voice wasn’t even raised anymore. He hardly even seemed angry anymore. Just tired. Tired of it all. Usually this was fun. No matter how vicious their fighting, there was always at least some thrill to it that made it all worth it. Not now. “But you are insensitive. And you’re a bitch for insinuating that I haven’t always been and am still doing whatever I can to keep my family safe.” The dark mark on his arm is a constant reminder of it. Like his whole person isn’t built around fixing others’ mistakes and keeping the family out of the line of fire as best as he could. “What’s the harm in trying to make sense of it? Of assuming that if someone gets hurt despite everything, it was inevitable?” It was beat out the alternative by a long shot. Assuming that it was his fault instead. That there was more he could have done that he didn’t. That his cousin’s blood was on his hands just as much as on Calantha’s. “If you want me to blame myself for it so desperately, please do safe your breath, because I already do that quite enough.”