[And its a smile that does something to him, tugs at his heart and lights him up and suffuses him with a bright burst of warmth because he likes to please, he does, it makes him feel for one small moment that perhaps he can be worth something. A faltering, stumbling feeling that never, ever lasts, but one that breaks over him briefly now like the cresting of a wave.

The words though, they sink into him like small stones, lines of worry that cross his forehead because the magician says he was just a wreck, and Julian can imagine it, too. The set up here, Asra's position in it-- this isn't for someone like him.

Unlike me, he thinks, can't help but think, because being cast low, being hurt and used, these are things he knows. Things he knows and wants and believes deep down he needs.]

I...I'm glad it got easier. I...

[His fingers flex, like he wants to reach out for Asra then, wants to touch him but--

--but. This is a strange kind of night, everything is so different, but all the more because of this he doesn't know what will bend, and what will break. So he smiles the wide curve of his smile, all bravado and swagger.]

And of course I'm fine, you know me. I can withstand almost anything.

[Almost, almost]

But, um. We could. If you wanted to. Do this again.