“… and for better or worse, I have found myself taken with you,” he says in a low tone, “everything in me screams to run. I cannot. I am in love with you, do you understand?”

The words are firm and strong. He says them with conviction that can’t be mistaken for anything but honesty. His voice shakes but he powers through it all the same because it needs to be said. He needs to tell you, whether or not it ruins him in the process.

There’s a tense moment of silence before he rolls his eyes, scrubbing down his face with both hands as he stares in the mirror.

He’s practiced this speech multiple times already, but he still feels as though it’s lacking something. Maybe because he’s only said it to his reflection and, on occasion, Frumpkin as well.

The knock on his door breaks him from his trance. The Mighty Nein are docking in Nicodranas again today and he’s been a recluse since yesterday. A close (too close for comfort, honestly) call when the blue dragon rampaged, everyone barely making it out alive. He almost died, he almost lost you—

He shakes his head.

If only he had the courage to say this to you directly.