[ They're close enough now that it would be so easy to bridge the rest of the distance between them. To pull her in for a(nother) embrace, or lean in and kiss her (again) the way he's wanted to for weeks now, breathless and for as long as they both want without outside interruption. Even if they haven't broached the subject of what, exactly, they are to each other, shouldn't his feelings on the subject be evident by now?

For a moment, he almost considers pushing the subject. I've learned to fight for what I want. That's what he'd told Malkuth last month, in the middle of a busy bar with a drink in his hand. And after days and nights of mulling things over on his own, in the privacy of his room right before bed, over a quick bite at the cafetera, he's come to the conclusion that he would fight for whatever this is.

He would fight for her, if that's what she wanted.

Again his feelings rise up in his chest, a storm brewing at the horizon over the edge of the ocean, and again he suppresses it, cognizant of the heavy atmosphere that surrounds them. His answering smile matches hers, small and humorless. ]

Any time.

[ With that out of the way, he pulls his hand away and tugs them both forward again, though maybe Ishmael should take the lead again so he doesn't walk them both into a pile of debris. ]

Though maybe I really should look into getting that healing implant. Might save the doctors some trouble if we can patch each other up out on the field.

[ Just hugging it out in the middle of a kaiju fight, nbd. ]