[He smiles softly at the coffee brought on waves of hands and gently blows over the brim.]

Awful.

It would seem without someone I respect as considerably smarter than myself around to tell me "no," I'm prone to stupid fits of destructive self-violence. [Blows more of the steam off and takes a careful sip.] In other words I missed you.

[He can't look at her. He never can when he's being honest. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Unable to look someone in the eye when lying? Marco's a little backwards.] And then I was mad about that. [His eyes flatten.] It seems I am angry about everything these days.

But there's no one I can exact my vengeance on. Those responsible are out of reach, so it always piles on. Like a long list of debts that grows more and more red. So I took it out on the only person I trusted to be strong enough to handle it. Myself.

[Another sip and he sets the coffee down.]

[It's good and he should thank her, but he can't seem to get the words out. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and lets it go.]

Do you remember why I was fighting with Ace this time last year?