"Walk away?"
Damian's breath stopped, because that was not the voice he had braced himself for.
Kaiden had his head tilted, smiling. There was nothing behind the smile that belonged in a conversation with a kid bleeding on a loading dock floor.
"They said that about Aria where you could hear it, and you think I'd tell you to walk away." He turned the idea over out loud, in no hurry whatsoever. "No. I would never tell you to do that."
Damian did not move. He had both hands flat on the ground beside him and his good eye still screwed shut.
"It was your duty to stand up for that wonderful girl who has done everything for you. She worked herself down to nothing keeping you and Lux fed, and she has never once made you feel it."
Kaiden shrugged.
"Somebody spits on her name in front of you and you stand up."
"Damian."
"...What."
"That was outstanding."
The eye opened.
