Eyes widened, squinted, widened again with upshot brows, then the brows furrowed. He was processing for almost too long before the words and intent clicked, and he leaned back slightly in his chair.

"But...you said..." Declan started, forcing himself to loosen his grip on his mug and inhale slowly. He told himself to just accept it, accept that Aoba's mind changed, that his tidal moods were going to be difficult to predict.

"You...you want to be my partner. My romantic partner. That's what you're saying, right?" A line of tension formed in the big man's shoulders, afraid he was misinterpreting things somehow, that he was hearing what he wanted to hear instead of what Aoba was actually saying. He had to keep reminding himself to relax the grasp on his mug, which was probably the only thing preventing him from vibrating right out of his skin. Aoba wasn't crawling all over him and saying those things; they were having a conversation. Maybe...it was real? Not Desire just casting the biggest possible net.