Raven + Eric
Hope was a double edged blade in a place like this. He wanted to tell them all that things would be okay. That one way or another things would turn out just fine for all those locked away. Yet it would have been a lie. Some may come to find some measure of freedom, but more than a few would likely still be locked away. The system should have been so different; instead of turning the folks into weapons the government could have used this facilities to help the supers cope with their abilities. Helped them learn how to gain control over their powers, so that the gifted could return home to their loved ones and friends.
However that was far from what was really going on. Her words broke his heart; not because they surprised him, but because Raven vocalized the truth of things...and he had no answer for it. Still when she patted his hand he let out a soft sigh, finally nodding his head a little. "I know you are right, Raven. Still while I fear I may become like Don Quixote...tilting at windmills...simply doing nothing feels wrong too." Speaking with her, letting those cracks be seen in his armor, it wasn't something he would have done just a few months ago. No, Bryan Murphy's arrival had changed so much and Eric knew he was likely living on borrowed time.
Yet for the moment he drew himself back to the present once more; raising his glass to her again and doing his best to remain anchored to his goal. This was a party after all; a chance to raise the spirits of others, and losing himself to darker thoughts would not do at all. "Please call me Eric. I may be a handler, yet I think most here view me as either an ineffective one, or simply too soft for the position. So why stand on formalities when this is meant to be a festive event?"