The strength in his voice drew her into the room, then a few steps further to stand by his bedside. She appraises him for a moment, “Yeah, I’m fine,” alive, tired, and worried, but holding it together. Residual adrenaline kept her going, plus a healthy amount of caffeine, which certainly wasn’t out of the ordinary for the professor.

Her hand slipped into her white coat’s pocket, withdrawing a handful of pokeballs to set at his bedside. The metal spheres rolled across the surface of the nightstand, “I took care of your pokemon,” and by the looks of the ones that survived, it was a terrible battle.

A moment of silence plucked at the tension built up around her until it snapped.

“Arceus,” her knees buckled to bring her to the edge of the bed where she perched beside him, “I’m relieved to see you alive. I just . . .” she didn’t doubt his ability to survive. Fernando Silph was a hard man to kill but after her own encounter with Elisabeth Fiorelli she panicked, “I thought that -” her own words caught in the back of her throat. What did she think?

“How are you feeling? What did the doctors say?” she didn't need to ask, she could just read his chart. In fact . . . she leaned back to snag the tablet off the foot of the bed to check for herself.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

“Yeah, no problem,” she waved off his thanks while concentrated on the record in front of her. It’s what she does, which doesn’t warrant any praise. She nodded along, accepting that he was truthful in the statement that he was “fine”. But was he truly? Physically, his wounds would heal. As long as he let them.

She’s finished reading by the time he voiced his concern. Her gaze snapped up from the pale light of the device to his, “Me?” she seemed to be somewhere between surprised and annoyed, “I’m not the one she wanted to kill.”

Elisabeth Fiorelli could have. There was a moment on that shoreline where Eva thought the woman might actually choke the life out of her. Their focus on Fernando’s demise was Eva’s saving grace.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

He’s not wrong. Her hands vaguely motioned to the mess outside the quiet walls of his hospital room, “It’s hard to ignore all this when I know I could be doing so much good. Saving lives that may have otherwise been lost,” she stole a glance at the pokeballs she left at his bedside. A little discomfort and exhaustion isn't an excuse to ignore one's duty. Not at a time like this.

Eva’s expression turned grim at the mention of other attempts on his life, especially the prospect of future ones, “Well, maybe if you were a little more personable people wouldn’t try to kill you so often.”

---

FERNANDO SILPH

He spoke so nonchalantly about life, as if his is so expendable. This drew a harder look from the professor, a shadow of reluctance to accept any such truth obscured a fear of loss.

The hypocrite scoffed back, shifting into a more stiff posture, “Absolutely not. Your life is not worth any less than mine,” she’d sacrifice her life in a heart beat for those she cared for, and even those she barely knew. No one else was allowed to be so selfless.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

Two souls, one selfish and one selfless, walk the same path. It’s the intention that defines them, not the actions. That’s what separates the gods from the men. The gods act selfishly in the name of power, while the men sacrifice selflessly in the name of the gods, fated to forever live in a disillusioned world of their making.

That’s why Eva will never reach her full potential; she doesn't know how to be selfish.

She returned his look without buckling under the weight of it, “What makes you better at it than me?”

---

FERNANDO SILPH

His entire life? An impressive resume, but that didn’t mean it had to be that way.

“That sounds silly,” she wrinkled her nose, a shadow darkened her eyes as she looked over at him. This seemed familiar, “You might be good at pissing people off,” in that way, he and Matias were the same, “But other people get roped in, regardless.”

“You shouldn’t be so foolish.”

Her gaze finally broke away to linger on something else, “I think you're underestimating those you’re protecting.”

---

FERNANDO SILPH