theory

涸れる: to dry up / 枯れる: of a plant: to wither; to wilt; to die / 枯れる, 嗄れる: of one's voice: to become husky; to become hoarse

dead, dried leaf

其の癖: nonetheless, and yet

癖に: and yet; though; when; in spite of

苦節: perseverance, devotion

propensity to seize things impulsively; sticky fingers

weird / strange person

despite

distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon / particularly, male personal third person pronoun: he / by extension from he: boyfriend