So what, you'd rather just sit around for another year? At least they did something—

[ the flash of amber stops the argument up short, and there's the faintest trace of an echo of it in his eyes, quick enough to be written off as a reflection or trick of the light. there's no other sign of slipping; the opposite, actually, and there's a moment to deliberately compose himself. ]

They aren't dead yet. They still have time.