[After staring at the ground for the past while, he looks somewhat at Korra, somewhat at a point past her (he doesn't think he could manage to look at her in the eye right now).]
... You know, I was kind of waiting, for the past couple of months. For you to get exasperated, or complain, or... something.
[He doesn't usually talk about these things. He's not mute the way Shirayuki is, but in some ways, his voice was one of the things taken away from him, when his mother sold him. That said, he's tired. And... if there's something he's come to realize in Haven, it's that he never says what he should to his friends before they disappear. He might regret saying this all later, but for now...
Finally, he manages to look properly at Korra, smiling wryly.]
I know I'm not exactly a likable person. I don't try to be. [Again, he doesn't care about that kind of thing.] Most people working with me get fed up with it, sooner or later. You never did, though. Seriously... that's a little ridiculous.
[She can take that as a compliment or insult. He won't elaborate.]
... You probably would've hated me if we'd met a year ago. For starters, I wouldn't have helped you out with anything. I would've told you that you were wasting your time and that it wouldn't matter in the end.
[...]
That time with the fog... That was the first worthwhile thing I've ever done. [The moment when he finally realized why people tried to play the part of the hero.
He doesn't want anything fancy out of his life. He doesn't care if he's hated forever, if he never knows what it's like to be normal, if he's stuck in the ruins of Tokyo until his death if he ever manages to return home.
If, at the end of everything, he can say that there was more to his existence than a mistake—one after another, starting with his birth itself—then that'll already be more than he could have ever hoped for, as a kid. He'll be content with that.]
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... You know, I was kind of waiting, for the past couple of months. For you to get exasperated, or complain, or... something.
[He doesn't usually talk about these things. He's not mute the way Shirayuki is, but in some ways, his voice was one of the things taken away from him, when his mother sold him. That said, he's tired. And... if there's something he's come to realize in Haven, it's that he never says what he should to his friends before they disappear. He might regret saying this all later, but for now...
Finally, he manages to look properly at Korra, smiling wryly.]
I know I'm not exactly a likable person. I don't try to be. [Again, he doesn't care about that kind of thing.] Most people working with me get fed up with it, sooner or later. You never did, though. Seriously... that's a little ridiculous.
[She can take that as a compliment or insult. He won't elaborate.]
... You probably would've hated me if we'd met a year ago. For starters, I wouldn't have helped you out with anything. I would've told you that you were wasting your time and that it wouldn't matter in the end.
[...]
That time with the fog... That was the first worthwhile thing I've ever done. [The moment when he finally realized why people tried to play the part of the hero.
He doesn't want anything fancy out of his life. He doesn't care if he's hated forever, if he never knows what it's like to be normal, if he's stuck in the ruins of Tokyo until his death if he ever manages to return home.
If, at the end of everything, he can say that there was more to his existence than a mistake—one after another, starting with his birth itself—then that'll already be more than he could have ever hoped for, as a kid. He'll be content with that.]