He closed his eyes, and held her tighter. There was pain and there were tears and sweat and it was shared, and that terrified him. He never shared pain, never shared his suffering, he was always strong because he had to be. Yet, here he was, sharing it with a human he met not even eight months ago. Allowing her to hold him up, to help him because he couldn't help himself.

She probably didn't realize how important this moment was. Oh, she may have had an idea, but she didn't realize, couldn't fathom how much he needed her, how attached he'd suddenly become to her.

And self-preservation was out of the way, because he needed her to survive this moment, and thus became connected to her.

"Don't leave me," he found himself murmuring. It was a childish thing to ask for. After all, they all left, in the end.