[ Harold doesn't ask who they are, though it's possible to make some reasonable guesses. Normally he'd know already, of course, and it's strange that he has to learn personal details now the hard way, same as everyone else. But Carver of all people deserves some agency to decide what he will tell and what he won't, so Harold only nods in confirmation that it's done, confirming on his own device that it's operational. ]

Although pain is inevitable, I don't like seeing anyone hurt, [ he says instead of acknowledging it, an oblique way of continuing their other conversation. ]

Perhaps it's a personal failing, but I've never acclimated to it. And I don't think I want to.