Besca knew the signs by now. A part of her was proud of that; years spent as just about the only human connection pilots had after they took this job had prepared her, but Quinn was unique and she’d still managed to learn a lot of her tells quicker than she thought she might. Of course, that pride was soured somewhat by the fact that she’d learned them as a result of the girl being absolutely miserable for most of her life on the Aerie.

Part of her felt guilty. She knew it was her own attitude that was doing this to Quinn, and regardless of what had led them here, she was still just a kid. That said, the absolute maelstrom of shit raging in her head, throwing panic around at the idea of what was waiting for her as soon as she left this room, made it hard to muster herself. 

“[color=gray]I don’t hate you,[/color]” she said softly, finally picking her head back up. “[color=gray]And I’m not mad, I promise. You learned this from the duel, right? Doing the right thing isn’t always easy? We both did. And I gotta support you when you do it. But, uh, y’know, I’m not a pilot. I’m not so resilient to it all, sometimes it takes the wind outta me.[/color]”

She got up, but rubbed a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. [color=gray][i]Keep contact, don’t leave her alone. Let her work herself through it. Show her there’s an end to what she’s feeling.[/i][/color]

“[color=gray]I know it sounds like I’m upset but I promise I’m not. Not with you, anyway. I’m working on it, I know it’s taking a bit, but try to have a little faith in me in the meantime. I wouldn’t rather you be any other way.[/color]”