Yeah. One step at a time, right? Obviously I'm lookin' forward to gettin' there too, and I love that you're thinkin' about how to become part of that life in a way that means something for you. I'm not sayin' you shouldn't do all that, either.

[Just seems fucking pointless. But they've had that conversation, and he genuinely does want her to find something she enjoys doing, something that makes her feel like her life has the meaning she wants to give it.

He has a long drink, then lets the glass thunk down on the table and shrugs, gesturing at nothing in particular. At everything.]

Sometimes I'm just an asshole. You're allowed to give me shit for it, it's what all my friends do, you know.

[An attempt at an explanation, but a genuine one, that even comes with his own little half-smile. Half the fights he gets in aren't with people out to hurt him or whatever, they're with his friends, his brothers, people who do dumb shit or who he's done dumb shit to and they throw a few punches and fall over laughing.]

I get it, you're not used to that. But if I say somethin' stupid, you don't have to agree with me.