[M doesn't even have to think about it, he just immediately starts quoting the doppelganger:]
"You're losing your edge. No, more like you're purposely dulling your edge. You're making yourself weak. That must be why...
That must be why I never told you about my deaths. I tried to convince myself it was because I was protecting Archie but no. I was really protecting you. Sparing you from the fact that you could do nothing to save me. Because you've become nothing."
"Twice. Not that you would have noticed."
"Do you want to know how I died? Every last excruciating detail?"
"Are you sure you don't want to know? All about the agony I was in? The way it happened and who was responsible?"
"What's going on is I'm finally telling you things that I should have told you awhile ago. Because you're right, I should have come to you when all of this happened. But I guess... I guess at that point I still wasn't sure how much I trusted you not to hurt me again. Archie just seemed like a better bet in those regards."
"Only that he was involved both times I met my demise. Once he was even the cause of it. But you could say both were kind of his fault. If I hadn't been so preoccupied trying to save him from first his incompetence and then from himself then maybe I would have been spared."
That's all the pertinent information.
[M finally does pause now, staring over at Andrew, his expression unreadable.]
I'm going to tell you what I told him: Andrew, I know I haven't been the most emotional person you've met, but I thought... I'd really hoped you'd know by now that I'm here for you. You're the strongest person I know, but that doesn't mean you have to hold it all in.
[He looks down at his hands, falling into a longer, deeper pause before looking up again.]
I have to ask--how is hiding this from me any different than what I did to you? I'm not talking about how I fucked it all up; I will always fully own that. I made the situation worse. What I'm talking about is the part where I didn't want you to know how broken I felt, and that somehow I was in the wrong for keeping it from you.
no subject
"You're losing your edge. No, more like you're purposely dulling your edge. You're making yourself weak. That must be why...
That must be why I never told you about my deaths. I tried to convince myself it was because I was protecting Archie but no. I was really protecting you. Sparing you from the fact that you could do nothing to save me. Because you've become nothing."
"Twice. Not that you would have noticed."
"Do you want to know how I died? Every last excruciating detail?"
"Are you sure you don't want to know? All about the agony I was in? The way it happened and who was responsible?"
"What's going on is I'm finally telling you things that I should have told you awhile ago. Because you're right, I should have come to you when all of this happened. But I guess... I guess at that point I still wasn't sure how much I trusted you not to hurt me again. Archie just seemed like a better bet in those regards."
"Only that he was involved both times I met my demise. Once he was even the cause of it. But you could say both were kind of his fault. If I hadn't been so preoccupied trying to save him from first his incompetence and then from himself then maybe I would have been spared."
That's all the pertinent information.
[M finally does pause now, staring over at Andrew, his expression unreadable.]
I'm going to tell you what I told him: Andrew, I know I haven't been the most emotional person you've met, but I thought... I'd really hoped you'd know by now that I'm here for you. You're the strongest person I know, but that doesn't mean you have to hold it all in.
[He looks down at his hands, falling into a longer, deeper pause before looking up again.]
I have to ask--how is hiding this from me any different than what I did to you? I'm not talking about how I fucked it all up; I will always fully own that. I made the situation worse. What I'm talking about is the part where I didn't want you to know how broken I felt, and that somehow I was in the wrong for keeping it from you.