Broken would've been a good word for it. There had been many times he felt that way. After everything he'd been through, messed up, and failed at, how could he be anything but broken? Being part energizer bunny was a curse as well as a blessing.

It had taken years to duct tape his life back to some semblance of what it used to be. The war came and then the train and now here. Whoever said you heal with time wasn't completely right. It's what you did in that time. Right here and now, he felt his soul healing by simply sharing his story.

When Gladio moved to kiss him, he lightly placed a hand over his roommate's heart. It was where his own heart was now even if the large man didn't know. "I already do," he promised with a warm smile. "That's why you should get a better bed or I should get a bell to ring and you come to mine."