Something about that made everything tighten a little, from his chest to his throat. The idea that something more important was maybe, just maybe, him was another cause of duality. It still didn't feel quite right to have stolen some of that spotlight, but he couldn't really ignore that it felt. Nice.

Kai eased the hug, letting his hands slide gingerly down Shinji's arms. He wasn't quite ready to let go yet, just like he wasn't ready to let Shinji out of his sights either.

So he nodded. "Yeah. I'll just, mm, watch for a while? You can just keep doin' what you were doin'."