"I'm saying I understand what it is to break." Hakkai's own light tenor is mild, as if he's talking about the weather; his eye lingers on the view out the window, letting Neal look at him without guarding his expression or returning the gaze.

After a long moment, he adds, just as mild, "This..." and lifts one hand to his face, brushing a finger under the monocle that disguises his glass eye, still not meeting Neal's gaze. "This eye is glass because I gave the original to a man whose brother I'd killed, when he demanded his revenge in turn. So, maybe, I understand both sides of this."