I wanted to. [His eyes flick up to meet Damien's, searching briefly to see if he'd made a mistake. If the conscious choice to remove a piece of his armor was the wrong move.] You're one of the few men here I think intelligent enough to grasp the concept without me holding your hand.

[He doesn't say trust, because, well, that simply isn't true, is it? Sometimes, he thinks, he can't even trust Ren. But intelligence, Damien has in spades, and he's seen enough already that giving him more information doesn't feel like a critical weakness.]

As for my death, [he continues carelessly, as if remarking on the intermittent gusts of wind outside,] I do have some time left. Just over two weeks, according to Yoshizawa-san. [His gloved fingertips gently drum against the two gemstones as his gaze grows distant.] Somewhere in that interim, something must have changed, but she wasn't privy to the details.