His immediate instinct was to say oh no, you don’t have to, perhaps because he was - well, far less used to accepting help than offering it. But Ari forced himself to bite that back, to actually consider it. And besides, Zelda had given him excuse enough to say yes - that was not just implicitly admitting I’m a mess right now, I don’t think I can do this alone - by making it sound as if he could be doing her the favour. (Ari expected she had done that entirely on purpose, but that did not make him any less grateful.)

And having her stay for a while would force him to keep it together, wouldn’t it? He still had the urge to flee the room and break down - the emotion was still there, balled up in his chest just waiting for the opportunity - but if Zelda was here he could fight it until there was, one way or the other, some news.

(And perhaps if Alfred or Dionisia wrote to her next he would hear the news sooner.) So. “Well... if you’re sure,” he said, shooting her a smile and, unexpectedly, feeling the faintest touch calmer. He sighed, shifting in place to smile over at Elliott too. “There’s too much food to eat in the house anyway,” he added to Zelda, sounding half-normal again and deciding he might even be able to manage a quick trip to the pantry and back without thinking about the wreck, “if you’d like to help with that.”

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