[He. has to tug the sweater off his face. This dramatic gesture was more effective in his head.]

It ain't my responsibility but it's a thing I want to do. You keep cuttin' yourself off from us, and I know that isn't good for you or us but the only time I can ever convince you to try not to is when you think you have to make the sacrifice of pretending not to cut yourself off. Which is a manipulative way to get you to open up, and not actually what I want, because all that'll do is set your damn splintered bone wrong and it won't heal right if it heals at all.

And I keep thinking maybe I should just stop? Maybe all of this is selfish. Maybe you don't need to trust me, it isn't important for you, it could just be me wanting to be trusted and I'm twisting your arm trying to get you to give me the closeness I want out of you instead of, you know, caring about what you need and working to help that. Only I don't think I am, but maybe I'm convincing myself I'm not. It's like no matter what I do, I'm definitely an asshole, which is an idiotically egocentric perspective to take, but what a fuckin' surprise: Dirk Strider is a narcissist especially in his self-loathing. That one really came out of left goal.

[He drops the sweater back down on his face.]

Godfuckingdammit.