[We don't know he's dead dies before it even gets to her lips; saying that is too close to admitting that she's hoping for it to be true, that she's been praying for something so unlikely, so foolish. It's far safer to focus on the rest of what he said, how frustrating it is that he's struck so close to home.

Would she pull this on anyone else? It's unlikely, but then she wouldn't have exposed herself to anyone else right now. Plas came knocking on her door and now he's tearing her down because they both fucked up. They both failed.]

Don't flatter yourself, this isn't about you, or how much effort you're worth.

[There are so many ways she could play this, but he's seen through her so easily that she isn't sure whether any of them would work. This is exactly why she doesn't spend too much time with people, why she doesn't let them get close.]

This isn't a game to me, I don't get to slip. [To show any real emotion, to let anyone see past the mask.] It was a hard lesson to learn, I'm not forgetting it because I'm a world away, not if there's ever a chance I go back.

[It's the first time she's admitted, even to herself, that absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder. She misses Maurice, she misses her people, but she doesn't miss the rest of it. Not at all.]