#this all started from that protective lycion panel

[senseearly]

The panels of Mithrun's squad caring, in their own little ways, for Mithrun are so important to me.

Much like Kabru, they don't have to go beyond what was asked of them. They just needed to follow orders; they needed to make sure he stays well and alive; they needed to fulfill the mission. And yes, they do all of these.

And yet:

They didn't need to do all of those. Lycion telling Kabru to give Mithrun space. Cithis wanting Kabru to keep talking so Mithrun has to hear it. Everyone's suggestions of what Mithrun can still do and can still like. With the demon gone, their duties are over.

Yet they stand by him.

Without having to put it onto words, the snippets of the Canaries with Mithrun do show that they have a close bond with each other. We're not exactly sure how they made those bonds, how long it even took to cultivate, but fact of the matter is that they do care for him.

And Mithrun knows it. And that's so, so important.

The thing about Mithrun right now is that it's not clear (at least to me) if he right now is able to reciprocate that level of care. It's clear that Mithrun cared a lot about his former companions, enough that he shared the vision of his dream and the dungeon with them.

And the demon ate that desire. Which explains their eventual disappearance in the dungeon...and having no mention from Mithrun of what happened to them.

(If you asked me, they either died from trying to stop Mithrun or from any attempts to escape. But that's a story for another day)

You can even say that the demon totally ate Mithrun's desire for genuine companionship, something that he sought dearly through his beloved and his friends. Which explains how Mithrun is just totally apathetic to most people that his perception/description of them is muddled.

But does that mean Mithrun is incapable of caring for people? I don't think so.

The thing that is so intersting to Mithrun is that he acknowledges that the demon ate his desires, and that the only thing left with him is his desire to kill demon (but is actually a desire to just be completely eaten). Those are true. But his desire for him to try is still there, and I think that's one of the reasons why Mithrun recovered enough to go back to the Canaries, and to stand up when the demon was truly defeated.

And like what Kabru said, Mithrun can still have new desires. They may not be permanent, they may come and go, but the possibility is there, so I think in the future, Mithrun may have the desire again to care for his companions. Especially since he knows they do care for him a lot.