"I'm the one who can't function off his own goddamn world," Devero says with a shake of his head. He laughs humorlessly at himself. "I'm starting to get where loteks are coming from when they whine about hardware being a crutch."

He drops his gaze to their hands, curling his fingers around Koumyou's. "Just bear with me," he says quietly. "I'll try not to let this get too much into--" He reclaims one of his hand to gesture between the two of them, then puts it back in Koumyou's. "--us, okay?"

After all, it's his own inadequacy causing him problems, which means it's up to him to figure out it. His shit is always his to figure out. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? Helping people is his role to play.