[In the first moment, she stiffened in his touch, like a stranger who had never received anything like this before. But rather than pull away and insist she wasn't worth any of it, he was... he was offering, wasn't he?

She softened and only hardly bunched some of his shirt in her fingers, her face buried against his shoulder. The way he spoke was so familiar, but she couldn't quite reach out and grab hold of precisely why. It was familiar, it was warm... it was home.

With no fight left in her, she wept. Slowly, her arms found their way around him. This was okay, right? This... was something she could have, even after all the mistakes she'd made?

The statues lining the walls shuddered. With a gentle creak, the scales- so tipped though they were- slowly centered and came to a pause, the dishes gently bobbing up and down. Something glittered in one of those dishes.]

I don't know... how you put up with it all. I don't think I'll ever stop thinking you're too important to get wrapped up with the likes of me sometimes.

[Her colors were muted, but they were very, very subtly there.]

I thought that, if I did something like this, I'd be more like ... more like someone worth all that effort. To everyone, and... and you, as well.