He could have said more, or cried more, or expressed more aloud; but he was Ender, and for his standards this was an already almost intolerable display.

So after the few, sluggish beats of time where this had seemed necessary, when he'd been feeling all of this, he murmured a wry, tired, "Do you think stuff like that ever works for anyone?" It was half a joke, half not, and he really didn't mean it to embarrass or mock Ben.