[Well, it was immediately making him go somewhere else right after arriving... It doesn't matter; Octavian can let it go. Better to focus on Viktor, the living whole of him and the press of his face against his hand. That's cute— he loves that actually, and if he wasn't so dedicated to getting some food into Viktor, he would absolutely abandon the heating water to stay here and get lost in affectionate touches, the simplicity of being here, together.

But the water is heating, and he shifts his hand to run his fingers through Viktor's hair again.]

I cannot say I know the precise feeling, [he says, because he's only technically died the one time, and not here; but the body he inhabits does literally dissolve, so he thinks he has some kind of a handle on this feeling of waiting for the inevitable, at least a little.] So I cannot say it will leave you. But perhaps with time the terror will lessen. Shrink.

[A beat. Well,] Like grief.

[Only, you know, on a personal level.]