By the time Jean-Claude finishes, Jon is staring at him in open-mouthed astonishment.

"Oh," he says eloquently, taken aback by how... purely sensible that sounds. He had seen first hand how the other avatars had fallen into obsession and pushed aside anyone in their life who would hold them back. Intellectually, Jon knew that his lack of close relationships put him at greater risk to losing himself - that was simply a fact, with the entities - but he had never conceived of getting some friends as so integral and logical a solution. Hearing Jean-Claude line as it if were a simple equation, however, was difficult to argue with.

His mind flashes to his own earlier thoughts, how much more comfortable he had felt these last few weeks, how much better his mood was. Compared to back in the archives where he was constantly snapping at everyone, going days without conversation. Jon told himself it was better to keep his distance.

"I-it's not that simple," he protests, more weakly than he might have. "I'm - I'm dangerous to be around. And... annoying. And unpleasant."