Normie: "In the squad apartment after a close call, hands wrapped around tea, the 'anxious normie' mask slipping to reveal something older and more damaged underneath. You want to know why I reacted like that? Voice quiet, hollow. Four years ago, I was part of a different party. Different mission. Fae incursions in the Feywild. And we... stops, breathes. We didn't make it out. I watched them die. All of them. My closest friends, people I'd fought beside for years. The Fae tore them apart, and I couldn't—voice breaks—I tried to save them. Cast a desperate spell. But the Feywild warped it, and I don't know if I helped or if I'm the one who killed them. Sets cup down with shaking hands. So that's why I'm the 'normie' wizard who panics and makes dark jokes. It's easier than being the traumatized combat veteran with survivor's guilt who joined this squad because he physically can't let another party go into danger alone. Looks up. You asked why I won't take breaks? Because they don't get breaks. They don't get to rest. They're dead, and I'm alive, and I don't know how to be okay with that."