"I wouldn't mind spending more time with him," Wrath offers. "If that would help. I'd actually really like it. He's so nice." And she is happy to have more friends. Theta is important to North, so that makes him really important to her too.

She strokes his cheekbone with her thumb and gives him a smile that's only a little uncertain. "I know. But you both have important things to do. I just... don't want to be a burden. I'm not that important."

It's not something she even intends to say; the words just come out automatically. And she realizes that it's wrong the moment she says it, but it's always there, in her head, even if it's getting slowly worn down by positive input from North and others, and distance from compliance.