Aoba lifted his hand from Ren again but the Allmate stayed silent this time. His little doggy face was hard to read if you didn’t know him, but he’d accepted the ‘chastising’ with good grace. While Aoba fell in step with Declan (as much as could be with their difference in stride, of course), Ren went back to quietly observing.

“We’re not going to be picky,” Aoba turned to reassure Declan instead, smiling a bit sheepishly, but still more confidently than before. He was warming up to the situation, after all. Hope. Aoba had hope again. “Anything that can be spared for us, we’ll gratefully accept.”