"No, it's not that," he says. And he pauses to start guiding them over to the couch. They can sit there together and have one of their long talks, now that they're both feeling a little more settled. "It's...they both remind me of Alana, you know? So helpful, so moral. But they can't bend, not even a little. Lets people like Hannibal take advantage of them, while they're chasing after smaller infractions."

He hugs Malcolm close before pulling him down the couch. "Did I tell you that she dated him? While I was incarcerated. Oh- you had that one memory of them both trying to convince me to ask for help. It was then." His fingers squeeze on Malcolm's shoulder for a moment, the occasional desperate grasp he gets when thinking of something particularly unpleasant. "Sometimes it hurts more when the failure comes from a well-intentioned source."