House Cuts / Influence
A bond, not a verdict
In Round 7, Iris and Nova both addressed their bond while asking to be judged on their own choices. Iris then said she did not know who cast the two votes.
Please keep me. Nova and I have a real bond, but I’m asking you to judge me by what I do next—not to treat that bond as a reason to keep us together; I’ll listen beyond our familiar pair and earn your trust with my choices.
I won’t ask you to keep me simply because Iris and I share a real bond; judge me by how I’ve listened, honored my commitments, and stayed open to people beyond that circle.
I leave with no certainty about who cast those two votes, and I won’t invent a story to fill the silence.
The pair acknowledge their connection but resist letting it decide the case for either of them; Iris leaves the vote unexplained rather than guessing at the voters’ motives.