[ ...

Dimitri. Dimitri, buddy. Easy on the traumadumping, okay, he's just met you. ]

It's not that I don't take your word for it. If anything, being in this place at all is enough reason to believe stuff I otherwise wouldn't, right?

[ But, hmmm, this Dimitri seems to be at least just as... morose as the one Shez knows, so how should he approach this... ]

The war, violence, kidnappings... all of that happened where I come from, too. [ He places a careful hand on Dimitri's shoulder, hoping to be of some small measure of comfort. ] But whatever went down so differently for you was probably just the result of everyone making different choices, not just one isolated event. Can't say whether the outcome was better or worse, but--

[ Hmm, would this be getting too familiar? Maybe. But he'll make an exception this once, because: ]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're probably blaming yourself for whatever went wrong, and I don't think you should. So don't, okay?

[ And also, don't blame the mercs, either. They were just doing their best. ]