The pleading in Jermaine's voice does manage to get through to Jake, hitting the pause button on his jittery pacing. His face softens, staring at (or maybe through) Jermaine for a long moment of thought.

"... Okay. Okay." Jake sighs, sitting down heavily in the same chair he'd started in. "I'm backing off. It's just that last time I counted on you being fine, you seriously weren't. For like... a really long time."

He runs a finger along the rim of his now-empty cup, staring a hole through Jermaine's stack of in-progress canvases.

"Just promise me you'll keep your guard up around that creep."