[Toby is slightly taken aback, and yet again some part of him says to himself, You should've known better. Still, he would rather this comment than slip back into self-pity again—how easily that happens, and Abduxel knows how to twist the knife. Perhaps Toby is actually learning...

He sighs and shrugs.]

Ah, right. Sorry. He doesn't feel bad about his pact, and neither would you, and so it goes without saying you're all willing to pay the price. [He tells himself to stop here, but his mouth moves faster than his mind.] I don't know that I'm as free as you think I am, though. I may not have to pay anyone back or serve anyone, that much is true, but that doesn't mean there aren't other methods of being boxed in.