For a moment, he thinks of telling her that she should not be afraid that the emotion will come from her, but wisely, he keeps his mouth shut. It wouldn't even be made in jest, but it could be taken as such. As it is, he simply nods, taking his place against the baseboard of the bed, his fingers fiddling together, scratching and picking at his cuticles; a habit long pressed into him during times of stress.

I'm just broken, in a lot of ways. He's not so foolish that he argues the point, because he's seen the way in which she was broken. It has never been a negative; simply a part of her, a portion of her life that has crafted the woman she is now.

It does not mean she cannot be unbroken, but it does not mean she needs to be fixed, either.

She never had a chance.

"Was that part of his plan, too?" Jaskier asks, and it's the only question that pops into his head. He doesn't know what Boulder is beyond a place, but it doesn't really matter. It was simply where her story leads her. "Joe?"