[Diavolo sighs deeply at Doppio's mention of power. Words are cheap - reassurance can do little to soothe him when he is stripped so thoroughly of everything he once had. Everything he once was is gone, all burned away piece by piece, death by miserable death, leaving him lost and unable to fight back. How can he possibly rebuild himself from the ashes when he was never meant to fall in the first place?]

If only I should be so lucky... I... I've...

[He murmurs again, a mournful protest against Doppio's confidence, and just as before, the words catch in his throat.

"That's okay," Doppio says for the second time, and as hollow as words are, they keep coming. Incessant. Unprovoked. Meant to soothe, and for a moment Diavolo wonders if he can lean into his words and let them wash over him, fooling his weary mind into believing for a moment that they have any weight or meaning behind them.

He can't.]

You waited for me. [He echoes the words softly, trying to still his breathing. This conversation has twisted so far from what he'd come here for.] Even though... surely you had no way of knowing that I'd ever arrive here. One would assume your employment was terminated with... with your death. But you waited for me...

[He trails off there, musing aloud.]