He is, however, sorry that Merritt's in the state he's in, that they weren't here sooner, that he didn't realize something was up when Merritt went to bed in the first place. (He should have known; he failed, again, as a protector.) While he manages to keep it off his face, however, the thought still likely carries as if he'd said it out loud, and so the apologetic look that follows, finally, belatedly is genuine.
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He is, however, sorry that Merritt's in the state he's in, that they weren't here sooner, that he didn't realize something was up when Merritt went to bed in the first place. (He should have known; he failed, again, as a protector.) While he manages to keep it off his face, however, the thought still likely carries as if he'd said it out loud, and so the apologetic look that follows, finally, belatedly is genuine.
He looks away a moment later. "We got time."