Fingers drummed on the railing. He knew what the other man meant. He was naive - stupid, even - in a lot of ways, but he was a grown man around many other adults who lived with a lot of "what if I don't live to see tomorrow", so intimacy wasn't uncommon, just unspoken. In his case, unheard of. Further complicated by the fact that Aoba literally had two minds about everything.

"I would never take advantage of you like that," Declan murmured, throat tight. He meant it. To him, not having the sentiment expressed by both sides of Aoba was the difference between commitment and caprice. What if he let himself believe this was the right course, out of his own selfish desire to be beloved of another, only to find out that he'd acted as though silence was consent? While part of Aoba might be interested, that wasn't all of him. It sickened Declan to imagine being a regret.