His instinct is still to defend, mouth open to do just that and then just left hanging open, stunned by Koumyou's vehemence. The thud of fist against wall makes him jump and he finally clacks his mouth back closed.

He shifts uneasily on the bed, uncomfortable. How can he not be? His smug confidence about his world derives directly from his culture's smug confidence in its beneficent superiority, and has led him to make quite the ass oh himself on more than one occasion since boarding the train.

Drawing his knees up, Devero half-hides behind them and lets out just one humorless chuckle. "They're blind," he says. "Like I was, when I got here."