She had to bring up the events of the past summer, as if he'd needed any reminder of his state of mind. Having to remember all the drama, all the stress... he didn't want to, but she was forcing him to. She wasn't quick with her apology either; she went from the talk of half-breeds to something about her brother to his own character. At one point, it seemed like she'd come just to fish for an apology!

While not intentionally cruel by any means, Handsome still didn't feel bad for their incident—though, to be honest, his memories of the day were very faint. He remembered bleeding, and the next minute she'd been (luckily figuratively) snapping at him. Handsome held up his hand for her to stop speaking, clearly not wanting to hear anymore of her rant. He didn't want to make her cry, but he didn't really didn't want to work through this discourse at dinner.

"I appreciate your apology, Miss Ruskin." No mention of an apology from him. "I feel no need to ponder on the past; what's done has been done, and nothing can reverse that," he explained. The Board of Governors had managed to reverse the ban, but there was no reversing the drama that had filled the summer months.

"That being said," he prompted with a quick glance back up at her. "Is there a specific... incident... that prompted this conversation?" He hoped he hadn't been showing his own political beliefs in this setting, especially with the tension from the election still fresh in the air.