"Oh pet it might not even help but we couldn't not."

"Mm," he says, trying to sound neutral. "I feel like I keep just... dumping these messes on you and your family."

"You're mine," she says, "and if that doesn't mean I'm entitled to look after you I haven't the slightest idea what you think it means."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Maybe you could come here, any later than now Tobias could—"

"I've got plenty of leeway to be excused from class that long," she assures him. "I'll get a train ticket right now."

"Okay," he says, trying not to feel like he's the most horrible and selfish and horribly selfish and selfishly horrible person and ugh why does Tobias he wouldn't be feeling like this normally this is terrible.

"I wish there was anything else I could do."

"Ma'am, you're the most important thing in my life. Existing is enough."

"Existing does not get you permanently away from him and back in school and safe."

"...that might be too tall an order."

"That is not incompatible with it being the threshold for 'enough'."

"You're the best, kindest, smartest, most amazing person I have ever had the luck to meet. And the world is a horrible place and sometimes we can't fix everything, but you're good enough for me, I couldn't dream to ask anything else."

"Love you, pet."

"I love you too, ma'am. Please don't—don't beat yourself up over it, it is in no way your fault the world is terrible and we're both doing what we can to fix it."

"I just want you to be okay."

"I'm as okay as I can be, under the circumstances."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, that's why, I'm—okay in an absolute sense isn't something I can be right now, but I can deal with it, I've dealt with much worse, and it'll eventually be alright, and I'll be myself."

"Okay. I'm going to go catch the next bus, I'll be home this evening, lovely."

"I can't wait to see you. I've missed you so much. I love you."

"You can go with Alex to pick me up from the station."

"Yeah, I probably will. ...do you still have my leash?"

"Yeah."