Miles resents being told, even by his own self, not to screw things up -- he's not the one who fucked it up so badly, anyway, is he? But they've slid off that topic and onto one that is...weirdly easier to discuss.

"Ah." Miles watches his older self for a few moments before he retreats back to his own chair, relieved not to be standing anymore. "Well, several months of being totally cut off from Barrayar and the Dendarii really did the trick, I guess. I just kept reaching for things that weren't there, finding gaps in my own story, realizing I didn't even really know...who I was without either of those things. Add to that all the insane stress and constant disaster, working two full -- well, one and a half jobs, but there were hundreds of people on board by that point, plenty of work for the Personnel Office -- add a few nightmarish hallucinations and about a month's lack of sleep..."

He smiles crookedly.

"The ice bath might've helped. But I still had to pick up the pieces after. Find some way to put them back together."