[ Her touch keeps him grounded, but a breath still shakes out of him and he presses one of his hands, cold and clammy, over hers as she strokes her thumb across his cheek. She's here. She's here. He clings to that simple fact, because he needs it so badly right now. Ardyn had been with her, but she's still here.

His head tips into her touch, lips moving against her wrist as he finally finds his voice again. ]

I...I'll try not to.

[ "Try" being the key word here. But it's so much much at once, his weary mind can't fully comprehend it. ]

But if he tries to...even look at you the wrong way, please. Call me. We thought he was someone he wasn't for a long time. He plays these...mind games. It's - just...

[ Better to be avoided altogether. ]