That's a strange concept: friends. There's really no one he'd put in such a category, because it implies a level of trust he's not willing to give another person. There are people who know him, claim to know more about him than he knows about himself and have plenty of opinions about who he is and how he should act. It's not at all comfortable. But he supposes this isn't the time to argue the semantics of it; the conversation really isn't about him anyway.

Or at least, it's only partly about him.

He looks out across the water of the lake. It's stunning, lit as it is by the phosphorescence in the plants and animal life. "I don't like judging people. I don't like forcing my ideas on others. It's not right. Everyone should have the freedom to live as they want to."

It's not that simple and he knows it, but it's a nice thought regardless.