[ He can feel the warmth of Souji's hand, as he sits up slightly straighter from his hunched position earlier. The foul taste is gone from his mouth, mostly. And he's still breathing raggedly. But otherwise he's a bit better than before. ]
I can definitely see why he's part of the military.
[ ...Dissociation. It's slight, but it's there, the fact that he just referred to his own past as if he's talking about another character in a series. ]
Hey, is it weird, to want to distance yourself from your past self? If it doesn't align with what you expected it to be?
[ Until Shin makes it clear that he doesn't want Souji's hand on his back, Souji will keep it there. The dissociation doesn't slip past him and when Shin asks, he just shakes his head. ]
No, I think that's understandable. I knew someone who did the exact same thing. [ They're no longer around but he does know one such person who had the exact same feelings. ] You don't have to be defined by the person in your memories.
i don't even know how many you're up to and i know you have too many
thankfully he didn't actually punch me, with that thing i'm pretty sure he would've broken something if he had. as it is i'm pretty sure it's a bone bruise, it hasn't gone down at all yet
[He's grumpy about it; he should've specified "no freakish Retrospec prosthetics" on his sign.]
Page 24 of 69