Omega stands up, slowly. Delta is right. Delta is mostly right. But that doesn't mean he's going to let him get away with it. "Yes, if I had a choice, I would," he says, as calmly as he can manage. "I'd do a lot of things differently if I'd had the choice. I'd have gone to school, gotten certified in something, maybe even a degree. But I had the seven of you to feed and clothe and put the lights on for, and as you said. We live paycheck to paycheck. At least when I jump ship, I get paid better. I don't hear you complaining then. Would you like to try to find me a job? Or would you like to stay in your cozy little bubble where it's my fault because somehow working ten, twelve hours a day isn't trying hard enough?"

Okay, so that was not in the slightest what Delta's message had implied, and now Omega feels guilty, which just makes him angrier. He hadn't eaten lunch that day, aside from what he mooched off Kim. Air filters are expensive.

Omega stays calm, lets the anger fill him up and lend him strength. He measures his words out carefully, not saying anything he'll regret later. After all, he's just telling Delta what he's seeing. "And yes, you've made very sure the family would fall apart without you. But you're so happy with it. What has it cost you, to have your professors and the ladies at the daycare and Theta's teacher look at you and say, 'there goes Delta, who gave up everything for his family! How noble, how good, how admirable he is! Truly, they would be lost without him!' So forgive me for not standing in line to tell you how wonderful you are, to have fallen into your happy little life that you love so much."

Low blow, perhaps, but no lower than Delta went. Has he forgotten the things Omega had confided in him so long ago? Does Delta truly think Omega wanted things to turn out this way? That Omega somehow cares less about them than Delta does? The thought, that Delta holds such little regard for Omega, freezes his blood and curls his hands into fists.

"Do you regret it now, throwing him out?"