Edward whipped around at those last words, his eyes deadened and staring. He pulled Eridan close, his fingers sudden and shaking still, by grabbing the other man's chin. Fingernails dug into jawline skin. Eridan hadn't rang false, of course, but Eddie hadn't been equipped to use his own power for months now, and that spoke grains of salt to him.

"Is that what you want? What you aspire to?" Fingernails clenched into that skin. "Kind of like me."

He held it for a moment more, his eyes darting over Eridan's face, his thoughts thinking of what happened to the last face he had just touched. He dropped his hold, shoulders hunched, turning away. He had a place he figured to be empty now, one that they could stay.

His place. Not a bunker. Single studio, hiding in plain sight.

"You could always say no," he said after a minute of walking and hunching around corners. "Always say no to them."

A sly glance over.

"Like I did."