The hand stroking Anders' hair halts briefly before continuing. For a moment, Nathaniel is thrown into serious doubt. He swallows it for the moment and keeps covering Anders with kittens.

It's on the way back to the camp that Nathaniel, after a great deal of internal struggling, speaks, threading his fingers through his partner's.

"Anders...if something happened to me, you would be fine. Well, maybe not fine, but you would be able to go on. Right?"