"Bond."
'He's serious.'
Atticus frowned. He was taken aback by the hardness of Ozeroth's stare, the intensity behind it was high.
"Alright. You've got your flaws, plenty of them to be honest, but you're a good man. What's actually bothering you?"
"Can you… really rely on me?" Ozeroth asked quietly. "Trust me."
"You already know I do." Atticus narrowed his eyes at him. "So stop circling it and tell me what this is about."
Ozeroth fell silent for several seconds, his gaze flicking as if he were wrestling with something he didn't quite know how to voice.
"…I've never had a family before," he said at last. "…What if she doesn't like me?"
Atticus noticed the way Ozeroth's fist clenched unconsciously and couldn't help the small smile that appeared at his lips.
'Ah… so that's it.'
The subtle shift in Ozeroth's demeanor over the past months, the way he carried himself now, he understood what was happening.
