[ It's almost as if he can feel that tiny, metaphorical crack in his heart when you look up at him as if you're not sure of what the answer will be.

He's been watching you: the way your shoulders curled in, the way you had to look away.

He can't remember who he told it to now, but he said, once, that sometimes it was odd, how you are the most dangerous, most powerful individual in the Vigil. And yet, in moments like these, when it's just the two of you and no one else, it's like he's holding an injured bird in the cradle of both hands and he's so terrified that if he holds on too tight -- he'll crush you without meaning to.

Maybe that's why the next words out of his mouth are the most awkward and yet most heartfelt ones he can come up with: ]

Do you need me to throw a shoe at your wall again?

[ It was bittersweet, the way you two first came together. You knew, he didn't, and he got to you just in time. He's not a Chariot anymore, he's not running towards a goal. But Strength means staying, weathering whatever storm comes. Giving you a place to come home to. ]

Because I will. If I have to. I totally will.

[ He can feel the tear slip down his own cheek. ] I'm not going anywhere, Hikaru. Never again. I'm going to be right where you need me this time.