Whitewater Gorge Floating

At Derg's yeah, he smiles and nods, an expression which quickly closes off when the next words come out of his mouth: a question about his supposed sad story. For a moment, he's caught off guard, unable to respond, and he notices that Finley had turned around too. All eyes on him. His skin prickles and burns; he's tempted to check for an itch. 

"What I've gone through," he says, after a moment of hesitation. "What I've gone through is that I've lost my family. I've left my home. Donovan has given me a new one. And here I am." He speaks in short, clipped sentences. He describes his past like a coroner would a freshly wheeled-in corpse. Cause of death...time of death...name, age, and birthplace. 

Then, "What made you think I have a sad story?" Perhaps his losses had worn on him more than he thought they did. Perhaps Derg was used to surrounding himself with melancholy people, and assumed the worst out of each blank-faced person, one after the next.