[A breath of a laugh, nearly silent. He tilts his head so he has a better look at their joined hands, squeezing back.]

Would you believe I don't hear that much?

[Besides Baren, who only on the barest of occasions will remind Sanji to pull his head out of his ass, the man doesn't get close enough to anyone for that kind of honesty. A disaster of his own making and he knows it.]

I'm used to shit exploding around me. [It feels like something he's mentioned before, but maybe never quite like this: weatherworn and downtrodden.]

Don't get me wrong, I know it's no excuse. [But it's why he... always left in the past. He has no excuses to offer, no words of comfort, just an explosion of brimstone. It'd always seemed kinder to run away.]