[Matt can hear the shift, Frank's head or shoulders moving. He can't even guess why, so he brushes it off, taste testing the unknown substance and deciding that, for this hour, it's doable. He's survived worse.

Then there's that, and, for a second, Matt actually thinks there's going to be an apology. That would count as a surprise. He's glad when it doesn't happen, because, in hindsight, it really is his fault, isn't it? It's always worse when you have no one but yourself to blame.]

I ... Guess at one point I thought it was better for people around me. Keep them safe. That was the plan. [Another drink, grimacing a bit against the acidity.] The truth is, I like it. I can't do that as me, as Matt. It's liberating. I like being ... That. [He won't say The Devil. They may be virtually alone but one never knows when someone might choose to listen.]

Or maybe you were right. I'm a coward.