"Never." It's a fractured whisper, and he takes a moment to steady his breathing again before looking up at Laerryn, taking in what she's saying just a beat too slowly. Nydas - is busy, or sleeping, is almost certainly fine but it's another thread of anxiety in a maelstrom of restless dread.

But Loquatius is coming, and he distantly registers how wretchedly complicated that is and how Evandrin wouldn't even know and -

As always, his husband's voice brings him back to himself, to his best self; it's barely a heartbeat later that he murmurs, "Of course," and resists temptation just enough to place his kiss on Ev - on Neal's forehead before pushing himself up on unsteady legs.

"I. I'll watch out for Quay." One last squeeze of Evandrin's hand, and a much lighter one to Laerryn's elbow, and he's given them their space.