He stopped what he was doing, looking over his shoulder slowly to gaze at Aoba a moment, bright eyes blinking. After a second he smiled, shrugged, and looked away, heat creeping.

"War doesn't care who you are, just what you stand for," Declan replied quietly, tapping his finger on the ship screen before straightening and turning. He raised a hand, reached out almost to touch Aoba's face before looking at his fingertips like they were independent and out of their collective minds. Clearing his throat and smiling again, the Titan shook his head and moved past the trio of onlookers.

"It's sad, though, don't you think?" he asked, turning briefly on his way to the bunk room. "That the universe is so absent of people that think like me, that you think I'm special somehow? It shouldn't be so rare for someone to just...care."