Adrien's brow twitched at Val's greeting. A thread of doubt made its way in his mind - for an instant, he thought it impossible that Val could be anything but the kindest person he'd ever met. His smile was the same as always - gentle, so beautiful; and Adrien wondered if he really had imagined everything before - and he knew he hadn't; but he wanted to believe - he wasn't a murderer, he wasn't a monster, nobody could possibly kill with his caring words, nobody but a being of pure evil, nobody but a --

"Is everything alright?".

Adrien gasped. From the other side of the room, Val was looking at him with an expression of such genuine concern, the one that so many times before had brought him relief - how much he wanted to see that face in the same way as he used to. Through the sudden mist of his eyes, Adrien saw Val stand up and stare at him. Before he could stop himself, tears started streaming down his cheeks once again.

"What happened?".