"It's understandable to not be 'over it'," Ekkehardt says mildly. It's almost like the compulsion has no hold over him, and then the words he thought but didn't intend to say come out. "It's been seventeen years, and I still have nightmares. The scars tend to last."

Being tortured hadn't given him that slight claustrophobia, but, well. He supposes there's no actual harm in it.