[ Oh wow, he hates the sound of that. All of it, from the political problems to the adjusting. ]

And I'm guessing I don't get to avoid being dragged to one of these worlds. [ Royce grouches. He pushes his hood back out of his face so he can grind at his eyes with the heels of his palms. All of this worlds-stuff gives him a headache. He keeps forgetting the reason he has the hood up in the first place. ] This is ridiculous. And of course it's just me.

[ Hadrian never has to go through weird soul gathering gauntlets. Why does Hadrian have the only bit of luck between the two of them? ]