Temp seems alarmingly calm in the face of Gavin's apathy; it reassures him more than kind words or quick smiles ever could.

It's why, perhaps, he doesn't immediately scoff and shove the other away.

It's dangerous to get close to people. He'd learned that the hard way. Get close to someone and it would only be used against you. Yet he didn't have to actually befriend this guy to benefit from his presence. It could be good to have another watching his back, fresh meat that didn't give a fuck about his crimes.

"Let me give you some advice, then." His voice drops low as he leans closer. "If you got family, friends? Don't tell anyone 'till you know this boss isn't like Blackwell. This race ends like the others, they'll be the ones that lose."

He leans back and takes another drag, slow.

When Cillian Quinn leans in, so does Temp. To those with a sense of humor, it might seem like trading secrets and more like intimacy.

From the way this guy's body was talking, though, Temp wasn't sure he could seduce him like he had so many others. Shame. He was hot.

The smoke curls around them as he digests Merlino's words.

Had he gotten in over his head?

.... nah.

"I'll keep that in mind, buddy." A wink and a quick nod as he pulls back.

Temp observes, for a few moments. The shape of Merlino's jaw, the rise and fall of his chest, the tense lines of shoulders.

"What made you stay?"

He cants his head, stares at Temp for a long moment.

How many nights had he stayed awake asking himself the same question? Enough to know the answer.

He runs his tongue over his teeth, then shrugs.

"Where else would I go? I've got nothing left to lose."

His smile is hollow. Not anymore.

There is a lot Temp could say to that. Cillian Quinn seems like he beats himself up enough, so no need to add onto it or piss him off with platitudes that would seem fake from a near stranger.

'Well, what's your plan now, then? If it's as shitty as Kanto seemed to be, why bother?"

Having nothing could work in two different directions, neither of them pleasant.

Gavin blinks at him, frowns.

For so long, now, it's been about nothing but survival. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. He hasn't thought about a plan in years.

"Same as always. I'll do what I'm told."

It didn't matter what he wanted. It hadn't mattered for a long time.

Why bother?

"Why not?"

Tenp has to ponder over his answer to that one, too.

Why not?

At least the answer was easier to reach.

"Dunno. Think I'd rather be dead than miserable."

What was the point of living your life just to survive?

"I'm not miserable."

Miserable had been touching down on Hoennian soil for the first time without the team he'd grown to trust. It was an ache in his chest that had taken months to subside. He still struggled to sleep some nights, even with Blackwell gone.

Now, he thinks, he doesn't feel much of anything.

"Besides. You can get over being miserable," he elaborates, dragging on his cigarette and tipping his head back. "Can't come back from the dead."

"Eh, difference of opinion. I wiuod hate waking up every day and not looking forward to something. Seems about the same as being dead."

That's just how he was. Yet, if Cillian Quinn could lie to himself about not being miserable, Temp wasn't here to convince him otherwise.

The guy seemed kind of... empty, almost. Like some spark had been removed directly from his chest. Shame. Those amber eyes would be a lot prettier with some fire behind them.

He opens his mouth, then closes it just as quickly, trapping his protest.

That would mean admitting to hobbies, things he enjoyed, and that's been used against him one too many times. Better to be seen as hollow.

For but a moment, Temp might see the spark before he snuffs it out.

"Difference of opinion," he agrees.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Temp opens his mouth to say more, press a little deeper, try to peel back a few of those layers when the door opens, an Admin stepping inside.

Temp shoots Cillian Quinn a look before he moves back over to his spot, ready to fall in line with the rest if the nameless grunts who just weren't as interesting.

It wouldn't be the last that Merlino saw of him. Temp would make sure of that.