Ah, there is the rigidity that was missing. Lan Zhan sits a fraction straighter, mouth smoothing into a thin, unpleasant line. The rabbit wakes and kicks a little, but relaxes once he's petted soothingly.

"I wish you wouldn't do this," Lan Zhan finally says, after he's thought for a span of heartbeats. "There is no wedding. He barely remembers anything from the Sunshot campaign, or his youth. Or me. IF he survives this at all, it will be a miracle."

Don't ask him to hope. He refuses. It's like swallowing poison and hoping the antidote will fall into his hands somewhere down the line.