"Name your favor," Hanekoma said, scooping up the cards and shuffling once more, "but catch your breath first, Catnip."

He waited until Lelouch's coughing fit had ended, then cut the cards and set them on the table. A smile, gentler than his usual, flitted across his face.

"Course it isn't," he said. "It's about punishing yourself. You said." Picking up the cards again, he began to deal, paper flowing smoothly through his fingers. "But your happiness is the only happiness you can control. You wanna stay closed in and give up on it... like I told ya, that's your choice."

"But if you don't want to, why are ya doin' it?"