Ah, but you won't, will you?

( pls don't offer him more soup. he doesn't want to really eat anything here; trusting this place is difficult even in the seemingly decent moments. )

I'm still waiting for someone to explain what California is, outside of some region name.

( he says with an easy enough smile, but more wry than the stilted edges of the stepford smilers they tend to live around these days. )