Charles, I'm pretty sure the only person who actually ever wanted to prove you were terrible was me, and that was mostly because I was really invested in everyone being secretly terrible back then, and you were so...meticulously inoffensive. And I failed spectacularly. It was very frustrating.

[She says it with a rough smile, casual and affectionate.]

People just...I don't think you let yourself see it, when people misunderstand you. Maybe because some subconscious telepathic part of you just...expects the meaning to be communicated. Or maybe some people did stubbornly misinterpret you because of their own damage and now that's just what you expect. Or maybe it's something else entirely, I don't know. But when people argue without venom you think it's got to be passive aggression, that it's got to be an attack, and you sort of...entrench.

I'm not saying it's all your fault, or that it doesn't hurt, because it's not and obviously it does. It's just...a pattern I've noticed, a little.

I know. I know how exhausting and - and thankless it feels, trying to take care of everyone all the time. It's awful. And maybe it makes you...I mean, general you, you and me and everyone like that, it makes us a little nuts, because we are trying so damn hard and every criticism feels like...god, what's even the point, if it's still not good enough? But I don't think people are usually saying that, most of the time. It just...feels like it. And that sucks.