[ She knows he's trying to catch her gaze, and it... reminds her of something Ren might do, a bit. But she can't bring herself to return it in more than darts and flickers, before other feelings send her gaze scurrying away again. She gets what he's saying. She really does. But it's because she gets it that she feels she needs to clarify. ]

I didn't panic because I was... strong, or anything. [ She certainly doesn't feel it, at least. One hand reaches up to fist in the hair behind one of her ears. ] I panicked because... I've felt something like that before. Something that just... takes all your thoughts and twists them around until they're only going in one direction, the worst direction.

[ She hadn't panicked because she's strong. She'd panicked because she'd been weak. She'd lost herself in that before, slowly destroying herself in the face of the compulsion she'd been left with. ]