"We all get things we don't feel we deserve," he says, simply. "But if all we can do is accept it, then with something like this, it's not too bad."

He feels like he has a lot of things he doesn't really deserve, deep down. At home and here. This is a person who straight up tells people "I'm a bad person", after all.

But accepting them isn't exactly a terrible thing. There's no balance to satisfy except himself.

"You're strong, aren't you? And likely to get stronger. So I'm sure you can do that." He flashes another brief smile. "Having somewhere to come home to is valuable, and worth protecting." Even at the cost of himself, or everything else. But that's just how he thinks.