[all told, Robert isn't sure if he would want Tadashi to believe he had reached out or not. would it further his disgrace in his student's eyes? would it hammer in the point that he's crossed a line, and en route to cross even more? would it make him believe that, perhaps, he /had/ truly turned his back on it all?

does it even matter?

there's a bit more surprise there- and then it hardens, his mouth setting in a grim line. damn it, Tadashi it says, even as he says something else;]

You don't have to be here. This is another inferno in the making, and you're going to put your friends and family through watching you go in to it again?

[maybe if he can't drive one point home, he can do so for another.]

What would they say if you were here? Do they even know?

[he may sound like he's trying to shame Tadashi, but it's more just to get him to /think/. if he disappeared tonight, if he hadn't come back, would any of them have had a clue as to why?]