"If...if there's ever anything you want to talk about, Helios, you can. I, um, I will listen, Always. And...I, um, I can't say that I won't be upset, or, um, I might not understand, but...that, th-that won't change anything. I will listen, and, a-and I'll certainly try to understand, and...we, we will s-still be friends."

It is, on occasion, dour and awkward to talk to Helios, and absolutely exhausting on a mental and emotional level to drag him out of his bad days. On the other hand...well, Helios is at a point where he'll be dour and awkward, where he apparently doesn't feel absolutely required to put on a happy face for everyone, all the time. It's a positive step, in a way.

"And...and bearing that in mind, Helios, bearing a-all that in mind, including the f-fact that I mean every word as much as I can mean anything...there's something I have to ask you."

Giles tries to keep his voice level, and succeeds a bit more easily than he had before, because...because, after this talk, he's not afraid anymore, he's not really worried what the answer might be. But not knowing...well, the fear of uncertainty has driven Giles to do worse things, in the past.