[ He still doesn't look at him, can't, half-lidded eyes just pointed upward at a poorly spackled ceiling. Being here is like losing momentum. Trying to hold onto it hadn't been impossible, but the introduction of a fractured timeline and a visibly disturbed friend is like a giant hurdle that's caught him. Now he's feeling tired, again. ]

I'm... holding myself to the standard that I have to. You get it.

I'm gonna' give it time. I can't dwell on what's in the past forever; that's the advice I gave you too. But it doesn't really apply to the future, or the present. Geeze... I don't know what the hell I'm doing if I say I'm gonna' protect people and I still can't do it.