[Of course Hayame didn't demand anything to soothe the Discord that has built up in his bones, making his shard pulse with heat and his skin warmer than usual when she touches it. Of course she had offered without expecting payment — that is why he feels he must give her something, why he cannot simply accept her offer and say nothing at all.]

Nonetheless. When you next burn with Discord, you know how you may find me.

[Their bond works both ways, after all. But that's just another reason he needs to be forthright. It doesn't sit well with him, to imagine Hayame seeking his assistance out of misplaced trust.

He clasps her hand like a man unused to casually holding someone else's simply for companionship; rather, his gentle hold is much like the light grasp of a gentleman first taking a lady's hand when being introduced in polite society, before lifting it to grace her knuckles with a kiss. It is a hold fit to be seen in public, though they have some measure of privacy within the thin walls of the tent. And it is, at least by Liem's standards, not a terribly intimate thing at all — especially without even a kiss of greeting.

But he still notices how warm her fingers are in his, and how callused. He puts his other hand atop them, just for good measure.]

Hayame, [he says, once her hand is held between both of his.] Would you say that being a good warrior and being a good person are different things?