[ ...No, he supposes they're not. They'd always been the one thing he'd held onto, though. He'd never been able to see any future that wasn't tied to the past... or, well, maybe it's more that he'd just never wanted to try. ]

I don't either! And I hate being like this too, you know! I just-- I wish I could at least be sure of anything like I used to be.

[ He just kind of buries his face in his knees after that, and tunes out everything after "you don't need to like Subete" because good, they're on the same page if they leave it there.

There's a bit of a delay, but Marona's name manages to snap him back to attention once he registers it. He raises his head again, blinking. ]

W-what do you mean when I'm not around?