As the first horns honked, Jules looked warily over his shoulder, and then through the vehicle's side-mirror; he grabbed the handle hanging over his head, preparing for some more tight corners and fast speeds. "[color=#8d97bf]Let's park,[/color]" he said. He certainly didn't miss the rush everyone seemed to be in around here. "[color=#8d97bf]Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything, you know. I knew you'd come. It's just that—[/color]"

[i]It's just that[/i] everything in his life tended to go wrong, especially at the molecular level. Troubles and worries liked to build up in his life like grains of sand, until he had built for himself a beach. He expected the ride to ditch him not because it was Ona in the cockpit, but because that was simply something which would happen to him after half a day's imprisonment on layaway flights, surrounded by overpriced cocktails, by children kicking his seat, by old men snoring. The ride not being there was not a human fault but a cosmic prank. There would be traffic buildup in the tunnels, or a car accident, or an engine malfunction forcing her to pull over; anything at all to make his life just slightly less convenient. Jules was selfish like that, worrying about the delays on the highways while the blood and broken glass invaded his thoughts fleetingly, invading and retreating in the same moment; not that that was much better or worse than people's deaths and injuries being a source of gossip at the office water coolers, he reckoned.

This notion expanded even into something as petty and trivial as their conversation, where Jules had been waiting for a moment to apologize without it feeling awkward. After all, Ona had just shrugged it off, and abruptly changed the topic, leaving him to wonder [i]how much[/i] he had offended her. He knew he saw pain in her eyes, though since he was a patcher, and patchers were not mind-readers, he could only assume she felt betrayed. He needed to trust her more.

"[color=#8d97bf]—Eh, nothing. I appreciate it. You want a drink when we get up there?[/color]"