[ Oh. By turns his face downward into the pillow. He wants to hide his face, but he's just trying to pretend it's a casual sort of move. He wonders if Bastien is convinced. Probably not.

Is that true? He is better than every single fucking one of them. With the exceptions, obviously, of dear Dono and his sister - but them aside, yes, they're all awful. And so, yes, by default, he is better than them. He's a spiteful, weak creature ruled by his vices and his emotions, who lies constantly and makes a living betraying and deceiving. But he's never, oh, chased down an eight-year-old boy and held his head under water for fun. He's never made nasty little comments about how slovenly his daughter looks when he's the one who never once bought her new clothes. Byerly is shit, but at least he's shit for a higher cause.

La bonne chose a faire. She might have him around the neck, but at least she's made him a good dog. ]

I'm not so hard to please, either, is the thing.

[ He mumbles that into the pillow. ]

Don't be a monster doesn't feel like a particularly small target. Even poor marksmen can hit that one.