[yet another fish-related comment-- shalem can't help but laugh, softly not because he worries about aggravating his injuries, but because that's the only sort of laugh he knows how to make without a terrible mental state.]

I think I'm coming to understand your quirks. [it may present some communication issues, but food-only speech is not one of the strangest quirks he's encountered over the years.] Even if I haven't managed to get a hang of the language barrier yet.

I'll be sure to pay you back someday.