"Would you buy it even if I had one?" Memphis' comment was meant to be sarcastic, but it just came across as tired. He felt so tired, both mentally and physically. He didn't have anything to offer Storm, and wasn't quite sure what she was doing here anyway. Had she come all this way just to yell at him? Was there some other reason she had to see him? Memphis couldn't let himself think she had come just because she was worried. That little beacon of hope would be too much for him to handle in this state.
He didn't miss the tears in her eyes as Storm looked him over, and it tore his heart in two as he struggled not to reach out and pull her close. He knew exactly what she was seeing, as he could feel each and every injury his actions had earned him, and Memphis didn't want to see the expression of pity on her face when she got to his hand. His only hope was that Storm would forget he was left-handed. She would forget everything she'd ever known about him if she was lucky.
Snapping out of his thoughts at her words, he noticed the distinct lack of anger in her tone as she spoke. Memphis knew why she was asking; he remembered how she'd broken when she'd found out about her mother. He wanted to give her an answer that wouldn't cause those tears to spill over, yet he couldn't find it in him to lie.
"I...don't think so? To be honest, I'm not exactly sure myself. I just...did it. Everything else was secondary." He'd looked away from Storm as he spoke, but his eyes found their way back to meet hers as he finished. "I just wanted to forget for awhile. To feel something other than emptiness. To prove...I was still able to feel." It was the first time he had told anyone this, but it didn't surprise Memphis that it was coming out now.