[ That's it, then? It's that simple? Harold hasn't spent a lot of time personally with Shaw one-on-one, so he hadn't known what to expect here, but this was much easier than he had hoped for. Painful and difficult for him, but no more than it was by its nature -- no more than it had to be. He has to live with this guilt in order to learn from it. Harold finds the idea of someone living on in memory a cold comfort, but he won't disrespect their memories nonetheless by ignoring them entirely. Refusing to grow, to change, as a result... is to refuse them wholesale. ]

... Would you let me stay here for a while? [ It's a bit abrupt, but he doesn't see a more graceful way to exit that conversation. ] John and I-- [ Harold stops to find the right word. It's not a true argument, not to his mind, not a disagreement. Maybe it's best to just recite the facts. ]

He kept trying to tell me it was a good death, and it makes me want to scream at him, [ Harold says in a perfectly even tone.

Needless to say, Harold would prefer not to scream at anyone. ]