"You were perfectly tolerable during our sparring session." He gets along with Harrow, but outside any chain of command, he doesn't typically trust others' assessments. And any affection he's seen Harrow show Gideon actually renders her opinion less valuable to him; it's an obvious bias. He liked fighting Gideon, but maybe she's best taken in that context and that context alone.

He's quiet for a moment, because she almost has a point. He forgot, for a moment, what's normal. Being permitted, as a child, to do childish things. To have childhood friendships. He's heard Zack talk about them.

"I didn't get on with other children," is what he says. "Too much biting, perhaps." It's an exaggeration of a single instance, when President Shinra brought his son into the lab to observe a demonstration. He hopes it sounds like something normal.