_{Tilting his head to one side, Vali couldn’t deny how alike they seemed to be. He at one point, had been good at comforting those that needed it. But along the way, he had either intentionally or unintentionally disassociated himself with anything that had to do with emotion. But he saw something of himself within this man and his words. A previous version of himself. “ It sounds like you spend an awful lot amount of time worrying about what others think of you. Don’t you worry that your anger–” he offered, gesturing towards his fist. “–might validate them? it certain doesn’t look like you’ve gotten used it, ” he paused once more, drawing a breath. “ what…or who, rather, have you always hoped to be enough for ? ”}

_{in his own way… he’d gotten used to it. to always be less than what he could achieve. always the mistake that couldn’t be erased  or maybe it could have been, but no one seemed to fix it just yet. then again, he’d learned the hard way time and time again just what would happen if he overstepped his boundaries. try as he might, he may have had some standing, but in the end… all ky ended up being was nothing more than a simple error in judgement. something that try as he might… he never could seem to fix.}

_{“yeah, well,” he said, “it doesn’t matter much does it?” it did, it really did, but it was easier to detach, and distance himself from his own feelings. that way, he didn’t have to ultimately deal with them. still, it was a long while before he finally said anything else – even more so as the two words he were about to say were truthful… even if hard to actually say. “my family.”}