[Sighing softly, Alex just brushed her hand over her forehead, rubbing it a bit. This was definitely not how she planned on spending her first day without being chaperoned because Richard was worried that she was going to something to her ribs. The idea of Simon ever showing up here wasn't something that she'd planned for, and she wasn't at all sure how to deal with it even before the kidnapping. Knowing that the kidnapping changed things and made it less able for her to say that this was a safe place for her, at least while the bruises were still on her skin and she needed to be reminded about her ribs before she did something that strained them.

So Alex just took another step back, and she gestured towards the coffee pot for a moment.]

Simon, the point is that here you don't have to do that. I've been here eight months now, and there's still no sign of when the portal might find the proper place to send me. You can decide to come out of the shadows like you told us to do. You can try to have a life that's not about the darkness and demons and everything that goes along with it. This can be a second chance for you.