[ The offer is genuinely sweet; she's a good kid. (She's not, but neither was he. Good is relative.)

His smile is small but sincere. ]

Thanks, but between the two groups of people I don't know very well, I'm sticking with the ones that have already accumulated wealth and power. [ His voice softens. ] They're gonna be pissed, yeah, but they'll calm down. You don't win anything by being reactionary. They're smart enough here to know that. Once the dust settles, this is still gonna be the place to be.

[ A beat. This is a goodbye, isn't it? He may not like her enough to up and leave what's looking like his best bet, but it's not like he wants to cut off contact entirely. Just that when you can't exchange numbers or handles or whatever, it makes things difficult.

Can't believe he's gonna indulge her earlier ramblings about Flagg, but, fuck it. ]

Hey. Your guy can do everything you say he can, maybe he can get in touch with me. Might help to still have someone on the inside.

[ Being soft can really make you say stupid shit, huh. ]