father-daughter dances are supposed to be more fun

Novella closed the book slowly, raising her gaze to seek her father's. I can't see her until I know if I love her or not, so the demon can't use her against me. Her voice is muted, hard to hear, though he's close enough to hear her easily.

It wasn't quite what she'd said; she certainly cared about the woman. But her doubts around their relationship was a weak point in her mental barriers, something the demon could twist and twist until it snapped. And she'd snap with it.

I'm glad she's not here. It'd just make her sadder. She added, fingers scraping the cover of the book she was holding. Silence, for a while.

Was it easier, last time? The last time she'd tried to hurt herself like this, had been when a lover died on a mission. It'd been a non-combative mission, but something had gone wrong. She'd not been there, and her father had arrived to pick up the pieces after another member of his unit informed her of the loss.

But Novella didn't remember much about what she'd done, how she'd almost succeeded then. She didn't really remember the sharp hurt of the loss, either.

@Malachai Valentius