[ Badly, he wants to lift his hands and press them to his ears, to block out the sound of music. There’s no sound to it, however - it’s a shared thing, mind to mind. More than a sliver of resentment bleeds from him, sticky and warm in his throat like swallowed blood from a crumpled nose. Veils disguising him aside, there’s no hiding how much, in this very moment, he despises the shared music. The fact that the two of them are sharing anything at all. And all of that, however much it bleeds through their young, new connection - it's on the backburner.

As much as he can control the uncontrollable, because there is information he needs, more than he actually needs this music-man to take his solid beat and piss off. ]

Don't misunderstand me.

[ The words are snarled, ripped from between his teeth like the revving of a chainsaw. ]

I don't actually give a shit about you, it's just that I have a better picture of what those fu -- [ pause. ] A better picture of what cost this pilgrimage is expected to take on us. And I think it's bullshit. I'll be fine, I was talking about the rest of you -- there's a bunch of kids, expected to shoulder these deaths?

[ buddy you're a kid too ]