Balthier would be glad someone else David could hear it from had said as much, but he would also be glad to know David had chosen to just focus on them in this moment. Trust had been hard. Last summer had been hard. But David always chose Balthier when it mattered, and that meant something huge to him.

“Everything you want me to,” he promises David, kissing the side of his head briefly as they pass. “If I have questions or you forget something, we’ll text.”

He thinks as he moves the bag, running through scenarios he’s already dreamed of in the quiet hours of morning. “I’ll put your things in the spare room for now, and we can do whatever you want with that room.” Not a state of the art lab, but still a carved out space for David.