Given how angry he'd been when he said it, it took him a moment to pin down what, exactly, she meant. When he did, he shook his head. "It had everything to do with you. Not only you, that's true, but..." He shrugged one shoulder, the unbandaged one. "You've suffered enough injustice as it is. And you deserve none of it."

Going to pick up his shirt, he looked away, more awkward than he would ever have wanted to admit. If what had happened earlier had put him out of his comfort zone, now he couldn't see his comfort zone on a clear day. It was much easier, as she'd said, to focus on doing something. That was mostly why he now slung on his shirt, letting it hang open in the front, and headed for the door to call for hot water.

Halfway there, he turned, a thought occurring to him. Perhaps bizarrely, he was more comfortable with it than with most of the conversation so far. "After all this, I'm going to need to let off steam. I'd sooner it be with you, but if you'd rather I settled for my hand, you're going to have to let me know."