"Maybe it's not, but I wasn't trying because it's a 'duty', I was trying because I thought we were friends, and because he is important to me. Was. Is." That huffing noise, again. "Whatever. You get what I mean." Her eyes finally closed, her breathing slowed and Kaine hovered dangerously close to the border of conscious and unconsciousness.

When Nariko leaned over kiss Roland's cheek (she couldn't reach his lips without Kaine fussing, and the other girl was already making an insistent noise) it was gentle and sweet, and her free hand tried to find his.

"Thank you." He didn't have to let Kaine share their bed, of all things. For a man who insisted he wasn't kind Roland still found a way to disprove that, to enforce something Nariko would never be stupid enough to shove in anyone's face. He was as kind as the world allowed him to be. The only problem was that the world was never kind, but that only made her appreciate it to the fullest extent.