[ Joke-adjacent gallows humor is good enough for Matt: his lips twitch mordantly. ]

A real stickler, yeah.

[ But his expression softens as he follows the path of Gabranth's hand. Matt's been too poleaxed to put up much resistance to their captors, locked in the mandala of his mind more effectively than he could be in any of their snares. But between Gabranth's bruises and that painful-looking spot ... he must have fought. ]

I'm sorry, [ Matt says quietly. ] I wish I could heal you. But the power I had is ...

[ How weird that after everything he's been through, this is what gets his throat closing up. His voice thickening. Matt swallows, reminding himself to breathe. ]

I don't know if it's gone for good. But nothing I've tried here has worked.