[ Pretty much right after he says all of this, Break is feeling a twinge of regret, because, god, he's terrible at this. He feels it in his bones how terrible he is at saying anything like this, because he doesn't feel that there's a bone in his body that's noble enough to support those kinds of words. He's the sort of person that will lie, cheat, and steal for the sake of his own selfish goals, and he won't even regret it. So saying something like this feels odd to him, and he starts to withdraw awkwardly, since he's at least thinking that the silence means his words fell flat.

(Or, worse, she's about to cry. He hopes it's not that, since he can't deal with people crying.)

He draws his hand away, but his hand pauses and falters in the air as she laughs. It's unexpected, but hearing what she says, he ends up ducking his head lightly. ]

Well, that is—

[ He stumbles over the sentence awkwardly, but he just sighs out a laugh of his own as he drops his hand to his side. His voice is definitely tired, but it drifts into a lilt that's definitely playful and teasing instead of being serious. That's much more comfortable for him. ]

It's an old man's job to make sure that the young people don't screw things up too badly, isn't it~? Rhys dragged me down here for a reason, so I'll just have to babysit everyone, him included.