That... hit a little too close to what had happened last night. Artemis' eyes narrowed and he looked down at the table. "I know that," he said shortly. "But I can't exactly claim that I know everything about the situation. Until a few days ago, the only person who'd ever comforted me was myself--which means that I wasn't exactly reaching out to help anyone else, either." Not without a deal, at least. "I've been trying so hard to put aside everything for him, but I just... can't. It's too much to shove into a dark corner and leave."

This was a dark period--for both of them. Both he and Haku had lost people they cared about, and Artemis couldn't even control his own body anymore. Neither one was suited to hold up the other. And though Artemis pretended, for all he was worth, that he could help Haku through this, it only resulted in breaking points such as last night. He would snap and resent the person for not recognizing how fragile he was at this point. It was a grim situation with no good solution. Artemis simply had to learn how to not break as often. People needed him, they didn't need someone who wouldn't come out of their room.

Artemis nodded, seemingly unfazed by the idea of Zabuza crying. Perhaps because it was a blank void in his head where information should have been... he just couldn't imagine it seriously. "As it should be," he said. "I would be upset if anyone thought otherwise."