You weren't here to make it tolerable. [He retorts smartly, settling his hands on Laurent's hips, thumbing over fabric as if he's just trying to remind himself that this is real. That he isn't alone, without his love. Apparently it's hard to believe for both of them, and he smiles, tilting his cheek into his lover's touch.] I found you, didn't I? You can't make me regret that.

[He tilts his head a little more, presses a kiss to Laurent's palm, then brings a hand up to curl his fingers over Laurent's. Those words feel like a confession, and he treasures the opening up, but- he has it all wrong. Damen's uncertainty had only grown on their way to Ios, had ballooned into something great and terrible when Kastor betrayed him. When he heard bells, and knew that his brother's body lay only feet from him.]

Laurent, the only thing I am sure of these days is that my place is at your side.