That was a blow right to the guts – unintended, naturally, but it hit home. That was strictly speaking his fault, after all. "I didn't realize that left that kind of permanent damage on you."

"Ambitious goal," Diego hummed. "But I believe in you, kid. You make for quite the poster child, after all."

Diego raised an eyebrow at him. "Your back, at your age?"

Diego nodded. "Can't say I loved most of the guys I met in there, but yeah. I became a defense attorney to help people like that, after all. So I get the sentiment."

Diego laughed at that. "Am I, huh? Guess I could make a career out of being a pillow." He was not about to say that he also found it kinda nice.

"Well, progress is progress, huh?" Diego was admittedly curious about that. "What's your plan there?"

— in this regard, but he‘d survive. "Y’know, since you fell asleep on me. Snoring and all."

Diego took a bite of his toast, chewing for a while and swallowing before he responded. "Mmh. Sleep‘s always rough on me, I usually wait until it‘s inevitable. But I haven’t fallen asleep next to someone in a while, so."

He rubbed the back of his neck, the couch had not really done him well —

"Yeah," Diego sighed. "I suppose that‘s all to say about it now. You‘re still out there making a difference now, huh?"

"Mmh. That’s nice of him."

Diego was quiet for a while after that. He should make himself useful somehow, too. Especially when he was mooching of this little family. He put a pin in it for now, hopefully his brain would work better once he was feeling less like he was still coming out of his coma.

"Still didn’t belong in there, kid. If the whole system wasn’t so fucked, neither of you should‘ve paid for it all."

"It‘s not a favor that needs returning, really. You didn’t belong in that place."

"Uncle Miles," Diego repeated thoughtfully once Trucy was gone. "Does he bring her to school?"

"Don’t worry about me, kiddo." He nudged him with his elbow. "You got enough to worry about already, I‘m sure."

"Makes for a pretty fun story, though," Diego grinned. "Lawyer with whiskers gets client off the hook."

"What – as like a cop? God, no. I hate the lot."

Diego laughed as well. "She's got you there, kitten. All you're missing is some whiskers."

"Like hospital bills, and how to pay for them, basically."

I don't miss the raging headaches the damn mask gave me, but putting the thing on was a lot easier than fumbling blind with the lenses, not gonna lie.

Diego grinned at her comment. "Yeah, you think so?"

Diego shook his head. "I'm not thinking about that right now. There's more pressing matters."

"Did I?" Diego asked as well, then shrugged. "Well. It's accurate."

"Somehow, I find it hard to believe that's got an appeal on Trite. He's probably still on that saviour complex."

"Thanks, kitten," Diego hummed, grabbing the plate and zombie-walking it over to the table. It didn’t really register to him what Phoenix had called him, nor what he‘d just said.

Diego laughed at that. "Bad boy charm? God, my teenage self would’ve loved that one."

"Oh, right." He thought about it for a moment. "…two?"

Diego scoffed softly. "Well, he‘s not scared of me. Must be my cuddly looks."

"He‘s not wrong," Diego hummed, focusing on his coffee. He did look up when Phoenix spoke again, but his brain wasn’t quite there. "How many what?"

"He does those annoying kicked puppy eyes, all the time! Don’t tell me you‘ve never seen them."

"You assume correctly," Diego confirmed, taking the cup greedily and taking a big swig. The heat didn’t seem to bother him, but the feeling helped settle his spirit, making him hum appreciatively.