"I'd prefer the hot toddy," he says with an expression that's half a grin, half a grimace. Not that he's ever drank melted butter mixed with anything, but it sounds unpleasant. He doesn't have arteries or any reason to worry about his health, but he still can't help but recoil, just a little.

He knew already Nick was someone Hank trusted and liked, and it means a lot to him to hear it's reciprocated. Hank needs people like that, and when he's not buried in despair, finding such people comes to him easily. It makes Connor happy in turn to witness it, even though it's not a skill Connor shares. He's manipulative, not necessarily truly good at connecting.

"I don't mean to be blunt," he says, though he can't see anything for it but to be blunt, "but if the Heart doesn't change any of its methods and you keep following it as it is, it doesn't matter how much you try to make up for it elsewhere.

"I appreciate this, don't get me wrong." But he doesn't want to be Nick's way of feeling better about herself without at least saying something. He wants the Heart to succeed. But without support and with people like Mello in charge? It can't. Nick seems sensible enough to know that.