[Alexei is handling this in the best way he knows how - if feelings are the issue, then clearly the feelings need to be the first thing to go. All that remains beyond that, at least in this instance, is procedure and a sense of what is appropriate and what isn't, and it's something that he can shift back into obeying easily enough.

And then that second part hits, and...well, all of that was nice while it lasted, he supposes.

Because now it's a case of whether he likes the idea or not - not whether he should like it, or whether it's something that he should even be willing to consider at all, because whether or not he hates something doesn't really follow any goddamn protocol. It just is, and what this particular thing is- ]

...I don't either.

[It feels...strange, having that out there. Hell, it feels strange being willing to consider anything like this at all. He usually has so many other things to concern himself with, his thoughts and feelings regarding people aren't high up there on his list of things he's prioritizing figuring out - especially not regarding Schwann, not after everything that's been happening back home.]

This is one of the last opportunities we would have. I don't foresee us having much chance in Terca Lumireis.

[That's blunt, brisk as usual; it sort of has to be, given that it's not something he says lightly.]