Wilkin & Bentley

"You know. I've always been good at reading emotions on dogs." Wilkin sidled up to Bentley as he spoke, working double time to keep up with his long strides. "You look into their eyes, and you can see pain, fear, joy, frustration. They're complex, but in a different sort of way than people. However, I think you're getting too human, I can't read you."

Bentley laughs a little, uncomfortably, but genuinely. "Really? Because it seems like every member of the group is comin' up to me one by one to ask me what's what. Not that I'm complaining. Just the same, I'm sorry I lied. I haven't been me lately... Or... I haven't figured out who me is... I don't know. Things have been so hard lately, for everyone. I didn't want to pile on. I figured you all needed cheer, not... Whatever this is. But I'm done wearing masks. And even if I wasn't, I'm fresh out of cheer anyhow. So. I'm sorry."

"I mean, not sure what you lied about, optimism isn't a bad thing now is it? And that's what we all kind of needed, a little bit of optimism. Just sad to see it take so much out of you. Really, the fact that even you, peppy and excitable Mr. Bentley, had had enough, just means you're a human. It's ok to be uncertain, to not know what's going to happen or to feel anxious about something that occurred previously. What's not alright is bottling it up. That tends to lead to explosions and meltdowns. And quite frankly those aren't fun, Bents."

"Ha. You really are startin' to sound like Nazili. You said it yourself: it's what you all needed. But I get it now. What we all need is to be honest with each other. It gives us strength. And strength is what we really need. More than ever."