[ Val lets his own arm fall to linger around Kazu’s waist, and he presses his face briefly into his shoulder. No, Kazu doesn’t need to put it into words, and as complicated at it is to be here, the relief in Val is just as clear. It may only have been a couple of days since he lost him, but that just means the grief is raw and fresh. ]

I did not really have a destination in mind. I went to the apartment that is, apparently, mine— [ and now his eyes flick to Kazu’s neck, the line on his throat ] —but I did not stay long. Too restless. It is… nice, though.

[ Kazu knows, now, how Val grew up. He knows the conditions he was used to, much more like the shitty sub accommodation than the swanky side of the Up. Val never did quite adjust to living without shortages, before things started to go to hell in the war yet again; this is no less strange, but he isn’t complaining about that. ]

We could return there. It is private.

[ They are ‘lucky’, he supposes, that they have been assigned opposite designations. As much of a blur as Orientation became, Val listened; he knows the rules. ]