There were certain things that had been set in Stephen's mind that were things that Matthew Selwyn did not do. Two of these things were crying and swearing, and he'd done the latter a few times and the former seemed to be just coming into its own. But now he wasn't so much disconcerted as he was concerned and a little bit afraid. It was all coming together in his mind, and though he wasn't sure if it was true he could guess well enough. The man he was looking at now seemed to be in the middle of losing every facet of the reality he'd lived in. It wasn't any wonder that he was acting like this.
"No, you're not fine," he said, and then was silent for a little while for lack of anything to say. What could he say, anyhow? In the end, he wasn't very good with emotions, not even his own. That was why he stuck with facts and arguing - that was so much easier than facing the real issue here, one that made him feel desperately out-of-place. "Well, I don't know either," he said eventually, "Run away and start again? I know you think that's too dangerous..."