One week had passed since Adrien had learned of Val's secret; still he struggled to navigate the miasma of this revelation. There was so much to think about, so much he wished to know; he couldn't yet grasp upon the full meaning of what had transpired, and he could only wait for change to make its way between the two of them, to open new paths where they could meet and share.

Adrien watched the shimmer of Val's fingers flare as he turned the pages of a manual of alchemy. This was who he was, in all of his beauty, in all of his loneliness. What was it like to be him, what was it like to be a demon? Adrien could not know, and could not begin to imagine; maybe it wasn't for him to ever truly understand - but he would try, and he would be at his side, and he would care, and he would try to give him respite, and he would beg all that was good in himself not to fail him now, not now, not now that it mattered like never before.