Gale wasn't one to ask questions unless he thought them necessary so it was no surprise he didn't take Cielo's discomfort and fidgeting as a hint to ask if something was wrong. Two phases of silence was enough for the blue-haired Embryon to crack (though those of a crueller persuasion might have commented 'so he wasn't cracked already?') and answer the question that never was.

"I miss Serph, don't you miss 'im? And dere's that whole t'ing with Heat, too, and what if dat's it, what if dat's what's gonna happen to us?"

Gale, for the first time in what felt like forever to Cielo's aching feet, stopped in his tracks and put one hand on his hip while looking at the other, occasionally flexing his fingertips before he turned to face Cielo. "Assuming that by the 'thing with Heat' you meant us turning against or attacking one another, then I do not believe this is what will happen to us. Group cohesion appears normal and there are no logical reasons to believe we will turn against one another or are capable of such an act. Also, yes, I do miss Serph."

Cielo blinked a few times before grinning awkwardly, looking over Gale's shoulder rather than meeting the creepily steady green eyes with his own. "Worked it all out, huh?"

"I weighed the variables I could think of, yes."

"What about Roland? He's not really one of us..." Cielo trailed off, feeling more than a little weirded out by Gale's constant blankness.

"Roland's sense of guilt holds him here. He's a greater threat to himself than to us."

Cielo let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding until it started to feel awkward. "Just wish t'ings didn't go wrong on us all de time, y'know?"

Gale nodded, seemed to hesitate a moment before thinking better of whatever had stopped him and carrying on; Cielo couldn't leave it at that though, too curious because for once he couldn't make any sort of guess at what Gale was thinking and he wanted to know.

"Oh come on, what were you thinking bro?"

Gale didn't stop to give his answer, kept walking as he talked. "Your observation. I can't plan for unexpected events. We will win, we cannot do otherwise, but I am occasionally concerned about the cost. Our weaknesses are particular liabilities, and naturally, I worry for our safety. Yours in particular."

Okay, not really a statement Cielo had expected. "Eh, geeze. Thanks?"

"Why?"

"Y'know, I, eh, didn't think I was special."

Gale blinked slowly. "You aren't. You're likeliest to die."

Cielo's jaw dropped. He couldn't really help it - since the virus he'd been over-fond of exaggerated gestures - but he felt silly for it anyway. You certainly couldn't accuse Gale of skirting around the issue. "Brudda, you're so not comforting."

Gale stopped again, staring at Cielo as though he'd grown an extra head - which, Heat's transformation considered, wasn't actually such a stretch. "Why would you need comforting?"

"Aren't you scared of dying?"

"If you mean the idea of failure concerns me, then yes."

And, as ever, Gale's tendency to be as emotionally responsive as a brick wall was turning into a pain in the ass. "It's not just about gettin' it wrong, Gale, it's - what if – y'know, what happens after?"

"After?"

Great. Now he was going to have to explain this as well, and he didn't like being wordy. "Like, before, we worked out that we just got recycled kinda, right? What about dis time?"

Gale did that maddening slow blink again, which shouldn't have even been possible with those eyes because they looked half-lidded all the sodding time anyway. "What do you want to hear, Cielo? I do not know what happens after death here and none of the Lokapala have expressed any such knowledge either. If you want someone to tell you guesses rather than facts then I'm not the person to talk to."

"But - but everything sounds right when you say it, y'know?" Cielo half-stammered, finding himself increasingly nervous and overly aware of his short stature as Gale stepped closer, then full-on perplexed when slimmer than he'd thought arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him to rest his head against Gale's chest. "Huh - mph?"

"You insisted upon being comforted, thus, I am comforting you."

That settled it, Gale was crazy. Unless he'd learnt this from Roland or the humans, but they were pretty crazy too. This sure as hell didn't make the idea of dying any less scary, but it was... kind of nice, really. He couldn't shake the feeling it was something he'd missed out on for a very long time, and 'kind of nice' became 'definitely nice' when he put his own arms around Gale's waist and the taller man let out a small, contented sigh. Guess the humans did have something right then because he felt... better. Stupid that he did - how was physical contact supposed to diminish fears when facts couldn't? - but still, it couldn't be denied. Stranger still was when Gale tightened his grip and before Cielo could say anything explained, "Argilla showed this to me. It stops my thoughts from centering on Lupa."

"Lupa wasn't one of us,"

"Nor Jinana," Gale agreed. "Yet sometimes he is all I can think of. It hurts."

Cielo nodded at that, remembered crying, wondered if Gale had ever done the same. This - all of it, despite the weirdness - felt right somehow and he knew what to do next even if Gale didn't show any signs of the same, stood up a little straighter so he could press his lips to Gale's cheek. "Lets get back to Roland's, find Argilla, and cuddle."

"Cuddle?"

"I remember Roland saying something," Cielo replied, grinning and proud. "It's like dis but lying down. Sounds comfy."

"I was under the impression that was sex."

"Same thing, I t'ink," Gale didn't look too convinced but Cielo with an idea was Cielo the unstoppable force, one to be reckoned with, and it wasn't as if returning to rest and restock at the Lokapala base was a bad idea. "We could always ask."

Cielo folded his arms, almost daring Gale to find fault with his logic. Asking Roland wasn't exactly difficult, and it wasn't as if the Lokapala leader seemed to enjoy being left to his own devices. It wasn't quite as effective a pose as he would have liked given that Gale still opted to disregard 'human' gestures for the most part but at least it prompted the green-haired Embryon into assuming the conversation was over and heading off, if not exactly in the direction Cielo had expected, forcing Cielo to run and catch up, stopping Gale with a hand to the shoulder. "Aren't we finding Argilla?"

"You specified returning to Roland's home before any such activity."

"Hey, I meant -" Gale's smirk wasn't ambiguous by any standards. "I hate you sometimes, bro."

"Incorrect," Gale replied before adjusting one of the straps on Cielo's armour to his own apparent satisfaction and heading off in the right direction.

Asshole was inscrutable - but Cielo had to admit, that wasn't always a bad thing.