[ A deep, shuddering breath is Kaveh's attempt to calm himself, though in practice it does nothing other than make him sob it out again in the next moment. His grip on his own legs tightens, and what follows for the next few minutes are simply repeats: sharp inhales followed by shaky, sobbing exhales as Kaveh cries in a way he hasn't cried in years.

When he finally calms, it's to pull back, to wince as he levers his fingernails from the indents he's sliced into his own thighs, to look up at Tighnari through eyes even redder than normal and brimming with saltwater. ]

It was... during the last Interdarshan Championship, [ he murmurs, eyes falling again after only the barest of moments. ] I was young, and I saw the posters of the diadem. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen... I kept asking about it, and so he entered the tournament to try and win it. So I could... so I could play with it.

[ He falls silent, staring at the thin tendrils of blood wisping into the water from his legs. ]

S-Sorry. I— I hurt myself.