He scrubs his eyes clear again. And his face in general, Popp is not a pretty crier. Distracting him with implications of Sephiroth's horrible home life seems to be helping the rate at which tears happen.

"C'mon, nobody's going to come after me for bringing down the mood. These little freaks love drama. Master Avan was really kind, by the way. He only pushed his disciples hard because he believed in us, and he wouldn't kick someone when they were down."

...You know that there are like. Authority figures that are nice, right? Right? Talking about Master Avan is bittersweet and also really weird with his past self running around at the same party but he would want to be held up as a good example, this is his legacy.