[It takes him a moment. Softer, then (but no more fond):]

I've done this to correct a lapse in judgment, not perpetrate more of the same. I understand why you might think otherwise—but the circumstance of this misstep was extraordinary. As you may yourself recall.

[The same way he recalls the strange chorus of opening scars. When he remembers it, he wishes he'd have accepted it more readily, with more grace; it would have been a beautiful departure. But the survival urge won out, just as it did before, and does now.]

So, let their eyes follow me for a while. They won't see anything of interest.