Here goes. It's come up a lot lately, gets a little easier each time-- but nothing is easy with Vlast, if only due to his serious demeanor and how, perhaps foolishly, Benedict wants his esteem.

"I arrived as a prisoner," he explains, and, having finished his waxing, sets it aside to clean up another time. "And, through a series of personal trials, decided that staying here was better than the alternative."

It's reductive, dismissive. There's a tension to his shoulders, and he averts his gaze, preparing gloomily to be questioned further.