"You don't want it to get easier," he mutters, almost hoping she doesn't hear him, that she doesn't ask him to repeat himself. While he doesn't -- and wouldn't -- wish her to suffer, there's a measure of relief that she's not yet hardened enough to not feel each disappearance as keenly as the first. She's too pure -- too good -- to lose that spark, and though this place might seek to test her, she hasn't yet failed in that regard.

He worries about the day she does, and if he'll still be here to see it.