Hey, so far this place hasn't been too bad. Let's not let my uncanny ability to have my pessimistic thoughts come true.

[ Honestly, she usually takes it as a sound of relief, expelling all the bullshit out in a breath. Maybe not easy path, but easier once the weight's been lifted. ]

Hey, it's... I mean, you don't have to. [ But she doesn't push it and make it sound unwelcome. ] No real thing as "fair," you know? We all do things at our own pace. I still get as pissed as I do sad when I think about working back in the RPD and how things went. Still got things that it's... I mean sometimes you have to sort it out on your own as best you can?

[ But that sounds like she's discouraging him. So she pauses and there's this extension through it all, something warm and soft. Not a breeze, but like a touch. A hand clasped over an arm, settling into the crook of an elbow. The way she speaks has that fine-tuned care in it, almost impossible to differentiate because she holds it all in.

She knows he's been through some rough shit. He doesn't even need to say it or imply it for that to be clear to her. ]

But if you want someone to listen, I'm pretty damn good at it.