[Cliff leaned back and closed his eyes, carefully paying attention to the details without having to worry about the visual filter for the moment. Although the story, simple as it was, sounded almost distant and detached from what must have been the reality, Cliff didn't persue it. All he did was focus on the information offered, plain and simple...

He could smell the eggs start to sizzle in the pan when Souji took his pause.]

That still sounds rough, even if the day-to-day was boring. Having to deal with people coming in like that is always a pain.

...actually, it sounds sort of like what people in my grandfather's generation had to deal with. There's never an easy, clean way to deal with situations like that.