[ He strikes a chord, and there's an immediate change to Ash's composure. The teasing face is gone, and the hard look that comes across his eyes is colder than his previously threatening appearance. There are doors that he'll keep closed, and he won't let anyone even knock on them. ]

Don't act like you know somebody you just met. If you think somebody's got to have some kind of trauma to not want your hands all over them, your opinion of yourself is too high.

[ He knows, when rational, that his responses tell more than he wants. Under normal circumstances, he can hold himself back much better, even if people mention what's happened. Today isn't normal. Nothing about this city of their ridiculous demands are normal.

Somehow, on the first day, this guy has gotten too close. The walls have to come back up. ]