[ Ayaka's laugh immediately works through him, seemingly healing the slight knit in his brow like a cure-all. Maybe anywhere else it would be appropriate to make light of what happened, but there is something about the absurdity of it all that makes hard to not laugh at. Especially when she's smiling at him the way that she is – he'd say it was a cute look on her, but maybe that's not the most appropriate at the moment. ]

I'm glad that you did not. [ confess immediately, he means. ] I know the group would have been sympathetic, but opening yourself up for any kind of targeting is the last thing I want to happen.

[ Which, admittedly, he's a little worried about what the next few hours will bring. If she wakes up again, can he even be sure that he'll rouse again, much less wake up in time to intervene? He almost failed her before – he wasn't even able to stop Shiv before it was too late, what's to say he gets lucky again?

...

He shakes his head, sighing with a reassuring smile. ] I guess being together helps ensure that we do not inadvertently destroy ourselves along the way, does it not?

[ Even if he doesn't really touch on it, she's not wrong about his feelings about being ready to die if it came down to it. But, she's right about another point: things are very different here. Even for him. ]