Ah, there he was. The soft hints of a smile crept on to Kai's face, warmed by the other boy's willingness to reach out again. There we were. It was heartening, considering everything else. And the everything else made an astounding amount more sense. The skittishness, those extra sleep rattled early days, the whole lot of it.

Kai shook his head a little, gently brushing Shinji's forehead. "I should be thanking you for putting up with me," he said with a soft exhale. "... Would've been a lot lonelier, without you."