{ His thoughts exactly. He'd take anybody but him. Any of the Spriggan Twelve, hell, any of Tartaros would be preferable. At least in the case of the former, there was precedent. Seilah behave herself no other reason than because he told her to (and he even had a chance to bond with her when it was reduced to just her, Mard Geer made more than enough enemies to distract himself with, and Silver was, well, Silver. Worst that happened with him was finally finding out about the whole stripping thing with Gray. }

It's... not something I ever expected would happen, truthfully. But I'm grateful for it. { A sigh. There's just a little bit of cake left on his plate. He just... stares at it. } Had she not died that night, I would have asked her to return to Alvarez with me. There was a time when I genuinely thought she might have been the Empress the citizens of Alvarez periodically say that they want. Maybe then, I wouldn't have left the Empire whenever I felt bored, or just wanted to get away from the politics.