[In return, Ken gives him a quiet laugh, squeezing him one more time before pulling back and grinning up at him.] You don't have to say it out loud for me to know it, but I appreciate hearing it all the same, Jaime-san.

[Ken didn't say it in those words very often, either. He tried to show his appreciation as much as possible, but he was almost always the one to choose silence over speaking painful truths if the pain would befall someone else. If he were really honest, all the time, he would grasp on to anybody he can and beg them not to leave him, but everyone knew that. Most people he knew felt the same way; it didn't need to hang over them all the time. But times like this, the sincerity was comforting too.]

I'm glad you're here too.