I -- hope so? I hope so. [Softly, shuddering on an exhale. Any contact at all is new for Koby, unfamiliar, but quenching something aching and raw inside him. He hadn't realized he'd wanted it so badly.

Then, looking down at his hands, Koby prompts softly:] Look. It's -- the gold's going away? I think? [He does feel considerably better. Perhaps it's connected.]

I can look out for you too. I'm not very strong yet, but I'm going to be. Someday.