[ that gets a soft snort, and somehow it does help. he knows neither of them can truly sit in judgment of the other's life and that's for the best, too. he's definitely past feeling like she owes him anything. more like they've finally broken even, something like that. he finds himself distracted briefly by her obscenely pink lips, staring as she pulls the bottle back down and swallows, feeling his throat dry up. ]

You're not wrong.

[ he'd eaten a lot of humble pie in the last year, his girlfriend left the country presumably because of him. no, he doesn't think he's better than her. not anymore. make no mistake, he used to, before danny rand had knocked him down a peg. but that was something he'd sorely needed, he came to realize. ]

Mariah. Um, Councilwoman Dillard. She left this place to me. I still don't really get why.

[ he scratches at his eyebrow briefly then starts to undo his cuffs, suddenly feeling suffocated by the oxford, slacks, and too shiny shoes he's still wearing. and that stupid tie, of course. he's not really any more a fan than she is. mariah had died and that was confusing enough, but putting luke in her will? leaving him the only thing that meant a damn to her in the end? yeah, the whole thing's fucked up. what part of his life isn't? ]

Guess I don't have to, right? Just trying to make the best of it.