[He'd known that he wasn't being particularly subtle. Part of the reason, aside from the ethics of offering counseling, that he'd maintained so much professional distance in Hadriel is that it gave him something to hide behind; it had worked at home, too, at least for his friends who didn't know any better. He could project a particular image, and control what made it through that image, when he could stay a step removed from his words and actions.

It's been a risk, here, to allow that to drop. For the most part, that risk hasn't been worth it; there have been so many experiences that have reignited that little voice that tells him how he knows better than this, that he should've expected things to go badly, and he has no one to blame but himself.

But there have been parts that have been worth it. One of those is just not having to hide so much all the time, and because of that, he can talk to people more genuinely. That's what he's allowed to happen here, and so he'd known the risk in that was that she might notice he's speaking from experience, but that risk feels worth it if it means she might believe in what he's saying.

So he lets out a long, quiet sigh, though he still manages a faint smile when he looks back at her and echoes her words from earlier--]

Am I that obvious?

[But it's a joke, entirely rhetorical, and he soon continues more seriously.]

It's different, for everyone; what they've been through, how they've dealt with it, what's best for them in moving forward. But there's always a way forward, no matter how impossible it might be to see it from where you are.

[And he's allowing, with that statement and hers before it, for it to be clear that he isn't saying that just because he's observed others go through it.]