I wish she was here right now, Riley. I know she could do much more for you than I am. [Like this, it's easy to hide the way his fingers fidget with the buttons of his shirt. He's sure she can guess, but he's entirely out of his element.]

It doesn't matter how I am doing, not in this circumstance. [His fingers tighten and loosen against the fabric of his sleeves now.] I've often distracted myself from grief by diving into something else -- focusing on something important to me to keep it from overwhelming me. And right now it's important to me to not see one of my... allies [Again, he struggles with presuming the word friend.] fall apart when I can lend a hand.