Well, uh, if there's no sun, you don't have to worry about skin problems, right? Right. It's not much of a bright side, but it's something. [ He is a pretty gloomy guy, but sometimes he manages to make jokes. Sometimes. ] Yeah, maybe, but I'd still like to see you get out of here so you can go home.

[ He knows he'll miss the other man's company, but he doesn't belong here. This place could chew him up and spit him back out, and he doesn't deserve that. ]

I mean, I think I'm pretty critical of myself and my own writing. People called my books bestsellers but they went through a lot of edits, and not just from an editor who was paid to look at them.

[ He's also all too aware that he's critical of himself in general, not just as it relates to writing books. ]

Nightingale... Robert Nightingale. Yeah, that sounds familiar. Vaguely. I know we met, I'm just not sure exactly when. [ Dates, times, people... things Alan should remember have gotten a bit jumbled in his head. ] Victim, though. So he's dead? Let me guess, it has something to do with the story. A manuscript page. Did I write it, or didn't I?

Honestly, Tim, I don't really know where home is for me anymore. I'd like to get back to our reality; that's all I've really been thinking about. [ That's why he half-seriously contemplated living in a small town like Bright Falls. It probably wouldn't work out, but a thought's a thought. ] But yeah, Return seems to be causing all this trouble. Except, it wouldn't exist if someone hadn't written it.

[ Alan's mouth twists to the side when he says the word "someone", as if it's leaving a bad taste in his mouth. ]