[It is an awkward gesture, isn’t it? And yet it’s so very Connor, and Markus can feel nothing but gratitude welling up in him, spilling along the edges.] I’m all right.

[—he echoes, and with tension having long crested, Markus feels like he can finally pull back and look at his friend with a tired sort of relief spread across his features. Bruised, sporting a swollen lip, and now wet around the eyes, he’s nearly certain that he doesn’t cut the most flattering portrait of himself.

Not that any of it seems to matter in this moment.]

It’s hard to describe how I feel. It’s news that’s lifted a weight on one side, and added to another. I still can’t afford complacency, but if anything else, this is just more motivation to keep pushing forward.

[Knowing that success can and will exist. Frightening and exhilarating. Hope proven to not be in vain.

His mouth tilts into an earnest smile, given to Connor freely, despite it all.]

But it’s wonderful, too. Of course it is.