[He's taking in the information and laying out a little mental timeline, as this is all good to know and fills in a lot about Ian's situation, but he's not too impressed with the conclusion of it all. He considers calling Ian out directly on how no one ever says they're 'fine' if they're actually fine, but he decides to be less direct.

So instead, as he reaches for his drink again, he offers gently--]

Knowing how to deal with something doesn't necessarily make it any easier to do so.

[Just because he can live like this doesn't mean it's good for him, just like it's not good for Lance, or for Nate, or any number of other people here. Experience, especially when that experience is traumatic, doesn't make it suddenly okay to be going through something similar again.

But he has the feeling Ian is not really open to being pushed on this any further, considering how firm that doubling down was, so he follows up with a lighter comment in case Ian wants to let the conversation shift.]

Except for the terrible food. You do get kind of immune to that after awhile.