[ It did take quite a number of months before he would've been comfortable enough to banter that way with Axel 1.0. Perhaps it's just hard to get out of that mindset...

He will be more dutiful, for both their sake! ]

I doubt that's a situation that a person encounters often, especially under these circumstances! Though I guess I shouldn't speculate on that kind of thing, knowing how weird the multiverse can be. [ His smile here is meant to be reassuring. ]