You say you want that and you try to be that, but you also kind of. Pouted? When I said we shouldn't do a phone call. Not in any kind of condescending way, that is, just. It's the word that first popped up. And given two seconds, you're already being...very, very honest with me. Even with me being a random stranger potentially calling from Tibet, that's a lot. So that seems like a big difference between what you're saying you want and what you maybe really want.

[ Bruce squirms on this end because this is. He's never really been a big hand for talking, because most people have their own problems and don't need to hear his, and because it's just...not feasible with the way he has to live. But what he's hearing is— It hits a little close to home. The longer people know him, the better odds of disappointing people and letting them down and realizing what a piece of shit he is. So it makes sense, to keep things at a distance so he can only be useful when he needs to be as opposed to what he really is. A burden. A mistake. A fuck-up from cradle to grave except he can't even die properly, can he.

Wow, great thing that this conversation is about Chris, huh. ]

...And maybe being this concerned with people hating you means you aren't that hate-able? Bad people usually don't care that much.