Lucky you, I learned my bedside manner from Mercedes instead.

[ He keeps his tone light as his focus remains unwavering. Although he didn’t miss that soft hiss of breath and he makes note of that, where it had pulled from, so he can gentle the next loop when he gets there. ]

Then again, she had that half-disappointed, half-worried look mastered so well that it was way more effective than any lecture she could have given. It was a great deterrent to not doing something stupid and getting hurt in the first place.

[ It’s easier, for now, to fill the silence with idle chatter. A distraction, something to get Claude out of his own head, out of the memory of what he’d just experienced. What they’e both experienced now. Claude had done the same for him. Although he’s really relieved he doesn’t have to worry about calming Claude down from a panic attack, too. ]