He rinsed the cup and set it on the rack.
He thought about the week.
He thought about Haruka's question from last night, standing at the door of Unit 5 with her travel cup and her careful expression. 'Do you know what you're doing to people?'
And his answer, which had been yes, and which she had believed, and which had been true in the only way he was capable of making things true, which was completely and without softening.
"The honest answer," he said to the empty kitchen, "is yes, and I intend to keep doing it."
"Because the alternative is a different kind of person, and that person would not have gotten Tyler Schmith home last night, would not have given Petricia an honest conversation at a railing at eleven PM, and would not have built something with Aveline that respects what she actually is rather than what the situation says she should be." He paused. "And I would not have a million and fifteen thousand Dollahs in accounts across four banks."
