The irony was not, in fact, lost on Aoba. It had been either that, or quote something ridiculous, like tell him ‘you’re aces, kid’ or make some other clumsy reference to being ‘a guy like you’.

Declan held onto him and he held onto the Titan in return, finding no reason to reach for anything else when he knew he was perfectly safe right where he was. That he wanted to…be right where he was. Mac had told him to ask Declan for a plain and clear answer, but it wasn’t like he really needed one. The only thing he really had to be afraid of at this point was—doing something new.

Telling someone that he liked them. In a…hopefully permanent sort of way.

“I won’t be long,” he said instead, adding a clumsy joke of, “Mac’s a nice guy to visit but I wouldn’t want to live with him.”