[There is a certain air of imperiousness to Edward that he's unable to shed, even blinded and ruined. It's been bred into him, taught to him for as long as he's been able to remember, and it comes shining through no matter what he does.]

[He wishes it didn't. Strangers are less likely to help someone who acts as though he's above them, whether it's deliberate or not.]

[When the man speaks, the tiny smile that had been tickling the corner of Edward's mouth shatters, and his shoulder slouch forward. This is another stranger, no one he knows. The man's hand is too big to be Barrow's, his touch too shy and faint, and he doesn't smell like cigarette smoke. Edward is alone again.]

[The puppy at his leg whines, sensing the change in his master's mood, and rubs his face along Edward's calf.]

I'm afraid so.

[Just because the man isn't who Edward expected is no reason to be rude. He straightens himself back up and turns his face in the man's direction, knowing that he'll see the scars on his face and realize Edward's impediment.]

I was in a hospital recovering when I was suddenly taken here, and presented with a puppy. [A faint line appears between Edward's eyebrows.] I told them I was not ready to be moved, and yet they did it anyway, and dropped me off in the wrong place!