[He knows. Indeed, he knows it better than most. Yet it doesn't make such things any easier to accept. The more blatant the care, the more it makes him...uneasy. Not that he mistrusts his companions, mind, but he now knows the pain of having them ripped away. Just one of the many "gifts" that accompanied the end of their paradise.]

[Yet Elidibus is correct in his plan. It is not something Emet-Selch had expected to happen, and he openly balks as the mask is set aside. For Elidibus to do so is not insignificant in the slightest. Even though such an action isn't strictly unheard of, for their Emissary to remove it from his person completely is...rather irregular to say the least.]

[Emet-Selch makes no move to discard his own mask which yet makes a scowling red centerpiece to his otherwise black ensemble. His face is bared, as it has been since his arrival here. Surely that is enough.]

[He frowns, looking conflicted.]

...Is all of this truly necessary? Your sentiments are plain, but I do not think I can stomach yet another heart being bared before me today.

Besides, "but a man"? I really think we are well beyond that point, Themis.
I've known both you and Lahabrea for most of our lives, far longer than everyone else I have ever known combined. We've a shared history, and all of the baggage that comes of it.

[Perhaps this all seems irrelevant to Themis's wishes at the moment, but within Emet-Selch's assertions, there are some rather telling clues as to the sorts of things that are yet weighing on his mind and heart.]

[A fretful grumble, but at last he slides one of the mugs towards Themis. Better to drink it before it grows too cold, after all.]