[ He manages, somehow, to not sputter like a total fool when she gives him that kiss. Instead, he just looks at her for a moment, blinks as if he's considering her words. Yeah, it had worried him, giving her a gift like this. Though potentially life-saving, she could be drained. Though she'd be alive. So he had to tell himself that it would be fine and the payoff would be worth it. Even if she never needed to actually use the barrier.

And then she said it. He wants to deny that that's the reason why he was worried about the Chroma use. That he just wanted to keep her safe. He doesn't want to let her know how badly what had happened not long ago had impacted him, though she knew.

There was no way she didn't. He had made no effort to hide it the day that he came back here, to his apartment, after everything had happened.

Still, this small thing would help not only her, but him. It was a little bit of a selfish gift, and he knew it. And he was fine with it. ]

I know [ he's insisting ] I just wanted to warn you. [ He's just glad he kept it together. ]

I can tell you look much better. And... it'd be better if you didn't have to use it at all, but if you need to, it's there.

[ Yeah. He's definitely not going to talk about the kiss, whether it's the one from the other night or just now. And while he knows for her, he'd do it again, especially with her life on the line. If it were most others, he's not sure that he would have. Which isn't helping. ]