It's noticed. Punchy. Interesting. Better for examining later.

"That ought to be saying a lot, shouldn't it? They were there too. Asset was the one stuck with all of it, sounds like. If not me, those are people worth listening to. If you were any kind of monster, they wouldn't do that, and you wouldn't be so struck by it, right?"

There may be one tentative attempt at hair scritching, even. Swing for the fences in times of need.