He wavered for a moment, swallowing thickly and fighting to hold onto his composure. Why was this so hard? Why couldn't he just do this? He bit down tighter on his emotions in return.

"I don't know what to say. I don't know what you intend to do. You're not... it's not clear what you want to do. You feel unequal, you aren't. I never had to worry about where I stood with you, because I always stood somewhere. Now I'm... not as sure. So tell me what this is.Don't confuse it in contradiction, okay?"