It's frankly embarrassing how much he leans into this touch. Kell likes to think he's pretty self-sufficient. That he can handle whatever life throws at him. That he can deal with problems, eliminate threats, navigate his way out of any situation. He doesn't feel like that right now. As much as he deluded himself in the beginning that the physical wounds were the only in need of healing. It's not true.

"Here I thought Thorne was the worst that could happen to me. Now I'm glad I didn't end in Solvunn." Kell shrugs at the reassurance. "So I keep telling myself, maybe one day I will believe it's enough."

It's not to dismiss Jesper's kindness, far from it. What does help him, even makes him smile a little, is exactly Jesper's unexpected kindness. They don't know each other, not really. One steamy night on a ship, memorable as it was, can't count as much. Even that feels like ages ago. The memories are beautiful, but Kell has doubts if he's still the person capable of such things. He'd want to, but he also fears that three weeks in the murder cave did break something fundamental within him. Something he'd never recover. Left him with nightmares choke full of decomposing corpses and debilitating fear of dark, empty alleys. No amount of dead Acolytes can cure that.