He planted a kiss on your neck before running his hand along your jaw as he sat quietly. He'd never been amazing at sappy speeches or comfort. His ability to comfort himself or indulge in self-reflection was sub-par at best. And yet when he'd seen you begin your cycle of self-hatred again when he heard you muttering about "falling short of being an actual man", he'd stiffly pulled you onto his lap and began staring at you. He seemed like he was desperately trying to think of something to say but just couldn't, he could recall no sympathetic speeches given to him or words of affirmation bestowed to him when he had been younger. No words whispered to him as he was hugged tightly and told that everything would be okay.

Instead, he settled for kissing your jaw and giving you the occasional stiff hug when he saw your bottom lip quivering. After nearly a half hour of repeating the process, he ran his fingers through your hair and swiped the tears from your face with the pad of his thumb before quietly stating to you: "You look incredibly handsome right now. Did you know that?"