no subject

[The young man's earnest attempts to answer and lighten the mood—poorly, in his opinion, but earnest nevertheless—reminds him of the children he'd recently left. They'd treated most of his attacks with levity of a sort, but he'd given them the chance through his own blithe demeanor and only toying with them until recently. Then he turned one of them into a weapon and watched as their naiveté collapsed.

He laughs again, the sound pulled out of him with an edge of despair this time.]

They don't have to be familiar after all. [To say his tone is light would be false, as there's certainly the undercurrent of things being wrong, but it matches the laughter.] This truly is a punishment.