He's done that before, too, especially back in the days when the world wasn't full of interconnected information. "No, I... could never hate Duncan." He holds himself to a different standard than everyone else, though.

The way he's playing with her fingers is shy and childish and uncertain, like a teenager who's afraid to go a step further and get rejected. "I know I do. I've been putting it off because... I don't know. I guess I'm a coward. But the girl I've been giving sword lessons to loaned me some money, and I... need to go back to my world. Get things in order."