[ He pulled the same shit he did with Miles in more than that regard, even. He really needs to learn to back down from simple challenges like that. It's sharp enough that it does sting, a little, and he's a little raw from that bit of exposure that's just happened, not quite on guard enough to hide it fully, there's a set to his jaw, something flickering in his eyes. He bites it down. ]

A lot of things about me are pretty fucked. I thought we'd established that much. [ Just kind of dryly. ] It's not exactly mutually exclusive, besides. More of I'm stopping because you don't know what you're doing, because I don't feel like guiding you, and I'm too nervous to go on.

I would've stopped eventually, anyway -- even reminded you of it. I didn't exactly have to do that.

[ Though that's a bit of a lie. He might've gone on, he could've gone on, he doesn't know, now that the moment's passed. There and then he'd wanted to push it a little further. Play a little more, god it's been a while, but if he'd actually gone that far and with Byerly being as good as he was, he might've kept going. The reminder was mostly for Byerly's benefit, genuinely, and also a little to dig in, to see if he really would beg anyway even knowing what was likely to happen -- but if he's honest, it was a reminder for himself, too. ]