"I mean I don't think about deserving things," he explains, shaking his head and smiling crookedly. "Not that I think about compassion much either," he admits with a shrug. "Most people... well. You saw."

They treat him like a freak. Like something laughable, if they don't know him well, and if they do, like something terrifying and alien.

"It doesn't bug me or anything. But, mm..." He cocks his head, smiling softly at her. "It doesn't bug me that you're different, either. Actually," his tongue touches his lips, "I kinda think I like it."