"Would you prefer that? Instead of being watched at all hours. That if you slip or feel yourself slip, you come to me, be switched, and the matter considered closed?" He could speak with those that stand above him, he supposed. Remain vague in his reasoning. Nerva understood him somewhat- well enough to know when he was jesting and when he was treating something with due seriousness provided she was not directly involved. The Seekers...

They might take some time. But he could lean, a little, on reputation without having to tell Cade's story.

"I do not think anyone can punish you as terribly as you punish yourself." A beat. "I was in a similar place once and know the feeling to a degree."

Not like this, not being unworthy of something so noble- but being nothing. Worth nothing. Meaning nothing. This he knows.