[ He laughs and it manages only to be a shade bitter. ]

I'm good at lying except when I shouldn't be, apparently. [ Here, he's going to fully hug her back now too. ]

I still think you deserve someone better than me, but I'll do what I can. I wouldn't have brought Subete, otherwise.

[ Would it have been easier not to? Yeah. But it's important for him to keep moving forward with the truth even if it's difficult and in this case the choice was twofold: he owed it to Subete and he owed it to Marona too because he should share things with people, even if he's being awkward about it.

Unfortunately lies are often easier than the truth, at least in Saphir's case. ]