[ it's her turn to be silent while working through his words. ] I know. [ is the most immediate reaction. she knows erik can care and hurt the people he cares about anyway-- he'd done it to her to drive some a point, deliberately cruel. ]

I also know that he and I disagree on a lot of things. Maybe it won't be true, maybe I can't mitigate his more extreme tendencies, but I have to try.

[ another silence, and then there's steel underlying her tone again: ] It's my choice, Charles.