“I just picked your arse up,” Seoraj says, with quiet and genuine affection, letting himself relax enough to sink a little into the mattress, not holding tense like he's waiting for something. His tone isn't as dismissive as the words he uses; there's an ease of closeness that he hasn't always had, somehow tenuous and steadfast at once.

Human contradiction is a fascinating thing. There are words for that, like 'cognitive dissonance', but mostly to Seoraj it's just- what it is.