[ They could have been worse, certainly, but that smile says he has some ideas of just how horrible they could have been. Himeka narrows her eyes slightly, though he does raise a point that she won't refuse--"honored" though they may have seemed, those who were welcomed were also ripped from their own lives and forced to play along with Thornes game. Not all chains are made of iron and steel.

So she acquiesces that much, nodding slowly. ]

You're right, though I admit I hadn't thought of it much that way at the time.

[ Preoccupied with the literal chains she had been bound in, of course. Failed escape attempts and disappearances of the people she cared about were plenty.

Himeka hadn't intended to test anything of Nero's reaction to her comparison--mayhaps making light of her own potential demise too easily--but it nonetheless reveals something of him. There is a promise in that smile that she picks up on, even if she isn't sure how much of it is directed to her. ]

One of two people?

[ She cocks her head to the side, lips ajar as her brows push together in a questioning expression. ]

Are those...people from your home?

[ Or are they people here?

Not that she's particularly worried about it--this is all hypothetical and in jest, right? (At least that is mostly how she intends it, for good or for ill.) After the several attempts on her own life throughout the years on and off of the battlefield, she tends to take such implications in stride, much to the dismay of some of her friends. It does just come with the territory.

Himeka huffs through her nose. ]

I haven't tried having sex in the dungeons, but it has never been something that I use to fill a void. That sounds like it wouldn't be much fun for all parties involved.