[ a little savagely: ] Good. [ he takes a breath. ] I don't want to have to see him like that again. Not if it can be avoided.

[ it had turned out well enough in the end, of course, but if he thinks about it for more than a few moments, he can still feel aral's shoulders shaking beneath his palms. the vorkosigan, the immovable pillar of barrayar, with tears wetting his face from the sheer relief. ]

.. Anyway. I'm not trying to scold you. I just-- I'm a bit unreasonable about the two of them, I suppose.