"That sounds frustrating, and painful," he says, candidly, though the pain is a bit of a guess. No protest about the healthy drinking, though, or commentary.

Like, oh, how even to him that's a tell that his 'pain' guess isn't much of one.

"Do you remember a post Ana Steele made a while back, asking about plans of what people would do if the City attempted to separate them from their... romantic partners." Stumbling over that because he's still not sure it's the right phrase for what he wants to convey.