[it takes a moment. and then a moment more. but finally, he finds his voice again, rough and weak as it is.]

...see...? Nothing bad happened.

[he thinks? yes. yes, he's pretty sure everything is still okay.]

[that tender touch is as intimate as the one that had been digging through his bones a moment before. there are no muscles to loosen, no breath to let out, but Skulduggery relaxes against the touch all the same.]

This time and the last time, and the time before that... [he chuckles, one curled finger moving to caress his cheek.] Did you feel something that would give you cause for such concern? Or see something?

[not what he was hoping for. or even expecting. but he doesn't move, barely reacts beyond a tired sound.]

Really?

[the idea had never even crossed his mind. he wants to refute it, to reassure him that it was only his poor mental state that fed into that part of him... but he can't, can he? they don't know. they can't possibly know.

he lifts his head from his shoulder, but otherwise doesn't move.]

Has that been weighing on you this entire time? That you may have helped Vile resurface?

[he reaches down to wrap his hand around the one against his femur.]

You aren't responsible for what happened. The armor began showing up before we so much as held hands. That started my mental deterioration. [he tilts his head.] You may have rattled the cage bars, but you weren't the one who woke it up. That was entirely my doing.

I wish I could prove it, but I don't know how.

[time and again, he finds himself stunned by the amount of faith the Captain puts in him. what is it that he's done to engender such trust, and what can he do to ensure he never falls short? he's so painfully accustomed to letting the people he cares about down. he refuses to repeat those same mistakes here.]

You have that, yes. You always will. And I am not going anywhere, Vile be damned.

[he laughs] No? Not even if it means lying to the cops and hiding me from the law?

[HEAD. TILT.]

Does that mean you've tried?

It's less about the heels and more about the idea of you running anywhere...

[you're kinda lazy babe]

That would be so much effort for such a couch potato...

[he's a multitasker, as evidenced by the way he tangles his fingers in his hair and tugs his head back.]

[he leans forward, scraping his teeth across his throat.]

Tell me more? [this is the best interrogation he's ever participated in]