"Seemed like you did okay as you were," James said, still able to be pleased about the whole thing, aggressively trying to force his own stuff to the back of his mind. It was, admittedly, easier, when he had something external to focus on.
"I doubt it'd have made much of a difference," he offered. Maybe his tone was a little apologetic. Or maybe it was just a bit indulgent. "Doubt is doubt. It's either have been the doubt you had, or you'd be second guessing everything. If I told you, you'd only have thought the whole damn thing to death. But look at you, you did just fine. It's always a leap of faith, you know."
There was always some element of risk. Something that was worth anything had to have it. You had to be willing to break for something-- to put yourself out there, to set yourself up to fall flat on your face. James simply couldn't see the world without it. He needed the exaggeration of it, the little jumps of trust in the world. Surely, they had to be a part of every relationship. Otherwise, how could you rely on someone to be there when you really--
"You got anything stronger than this?" he asked, almost under his breath before finishing off his ale. James was totally confident that he could keep this up, this facade of normality, if he were just a little less aware of reality.