You had better. [ is what kaveh says, just as heine pulls him into an embrace. kaveh drags himself forward. he drags heine in. the death spiral is like this - kaveh, with his hands curled around heine's shoulders, holding him to him with a fierceness that comes from grief, and love. kaveh imbues into his hold his grievances, his sorrow - his pride. this is heine. ] What were you thinking when you sought to warn me of Getou, hm? Were you imagining me impaled on a pillar or rebar somewhere where you can't reach?

[ the words are half-bitten, half-truncated. they are all fury.

because this is heine, who in his darkest moments only ever sought to hurt himself. who hasn't ever raised a fist without having his claws turned back on himself in turn. kaveh knows this about him. this is why it's so difficult to swallow. kaveh refuses to swallow it.

he presses the crown of his head into heine's cheek. he holds him there. ]

Is it so difficult for you to imagine that I would be similarly moved by imagining you like so? I'll say this until you do believe it, Heine: you cannot be lost, not even for a moment. I won't bear it.