（ he's gotten over his shock of jazz bein' some few years older than him now, filled out an' damn well taller. sure doesn't mean he's lost that protective streak the whole of his battalion fostered for him when he was just a scrappy punk everybody knew was too damn young to be here.

so gene tugs him back another step or two with the set expression of someone expectin' a headache outta this whole exchange. ）

An' it'll melt before you get ten yards out. Unless you're expectin' you can sprint between shopfronts without any ill effect.