Aoba could almost start to think that this whole Chosen One business wasn’t all bad. Steelport had been miserable for where it had dumped him. Probably it had had good people in the world somewhere, but Aoba’s specific circumstances had been lousy. This place, on the other hand, he couldn’t believe his luck. It had started with the drunk but all seemed to be going uphill from here. There was a war, yes, but the front lines were elsewhere. Here he was safe, he would be fed, and he had shelter. He had a base of operations to search for his next portal out of here….

Still, Aoba was glad to see Declan back again and jogged eagerly back to the Guardian with a relieved smile.

“Yeah! He was really…informative, and he said I can come back with any questions. I don’t think I’ll understand everything any time soon, but I feel better having talked to him.”

He glanced back briefly, hesitated at a thought, then looked back up at Declan to meet that silver gaze directly. “Ah, but there’s one thing he said that you should probably know. I told him I’m happy staying with you, but let me know if having me around ever gets weird or uncomfortable, okay? The Speaker said there’s space available that I could have for my own, but I’m not going to ask for that unless I bother you, so…don’t hesitate to tell me so if you change your mind, okay?” A beat, and an impulsive addition: “We’ll still be friends and I won’t be offended.”