Well, if you're going to insist. [ Although there's a touch of hesitance in his would-be careless reply. If she were a stranger, still, he wouldn't feel even the tiniest tug of guilt at letting her pay for anything she pleased - taking advantage of the kindness of strangers is also a skill one hones, while on the run.

But since it's Chloe, someone he knows for a fact is kind and decent and not just playing an angle to get something from him (or liable to throw him to the wolves at the slightest provocation), well. He's a tad conflicted. ]

I'd prefer to do away with them entirely, really. [ He hasn't worn anything this stuffy for this long since the Circle. He shrugs. ] But if you think they're salvageable. It can't make them any worse.