"I'm sorry, Fool. This place is… splendid and terrible, for what it gives and takes."

The immensity of his grief and pain had been easier to hold in his heart before sharing it--but it had been a heavy burden to carry, leaving him taut and tense in other ways. Devin's gentle caution is still pressure enough against a raw wound to bring an unexpected sheen of moisture to the Fool's eyes, though he isn't truly on the cusp of weeping openly yet. His smile softens, before he looks away.

"Splendid and terrible. Yes."

He reaches for his tea, sips from it to steal precious seconds with which to centre himself, and if his breathing seems a touch unsteady when he sighs afterwards, surely he can be forgiven that much. "If not for the Dreaming," he admits after a spell of silence, "Fitz and I would never have met again. I suppose I should thank it for the chance to see him one last time."

He grows quiet again for a moment, then closes his eyes. Then, in a voice stricken with guilt, he whispers, "I should have been more patient with him. I should have..." He trails off.