An' I said I'd do it, didn't I? Even without ya tryna bribe me into it.

But maybe ask me the first time an' not jus' 'cause I showed up an' ya remembered and think it's fuckin' convenient.

[ he gets up and snatches his sword from where he'd set it earlier, moving past to go and wait by the door. it's just that he probably does so a little too hurriedly not to look like he's running away.

while he may not have been very good at dealing with his feelings before either, at least time and distance had made it easier to be angry and bury the rest, so ideally, he wouldn't have to deal with it. izō had been worried about this. now it just feels too much like he did when he was younger, where everything's laid out there on the surface. then it's just plain painful, realising that the world and everyone else in it always seem to have worse troubles, so he will always be an afterthought.

one would think he might've lowered his standards at some point, but that would mean admitting that he cares about whether or not someone else does, so the ol' spiral of misery spins on, as it does. ]