Sterling hardly anticipated the way Henry leaned forward to suddenly brush his hand against the warlock's cheek. That small gesture of affection, however, was entirely welcomed all the same. He'd missed Henry. He'd missed those touches, the teasing, the dating, he missed it all. Those bright blue eyes focused upon his boyfriend in that moment and yet he hardly made an effort to fight Henry's efforts to reassure him that he should have done more for the man. It was a simple fact that Sterling had known what Henry was while the man was still struggling to accept it and surely, if he loved Henry, which he did, he should have done more to help.Even so, he could hardly bare to allow Henry to shoulder all the weight of what had happened. He knew well enough how the man could dwell on such things and how they were so capable of tearing him apart. "It was all so new to you...I mean...I never even told you they existed..." That excuse was so easily made and yet, truthfully, Sterling hardly blamed his lover in the slightest for all that had happened on that boat. Neither of them had been prepared for that moment. It was over now and they'd made it out alive and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

That question of cooking him food took the man aback. It was truly rare in their relationship when Henry was within the Kitchen. It had always been his domain or the pair had resulted to take out. That suggestion that he looked thin was perhaps equally as surprising to the poor boy. His gaze slowly shifted down his figure with a small frown upon his features. He supposed he hadn't really been eating well lately...but he simply hadn't been hungry. In fact, most of his days were spent curled up in the warmth between those sheets of his bed, closing out the outside world at large. "Um...I...I guess...." He commented almost uncertainly, gesturing Henry in. It was bizarre how such a small thing could make him so self-conscious. After all, if Henry had seen some sort of change in his weight in damn near seconds, he was fairly certain those scars that marred his once pristine skin and the way they'd affected his walk would be crystal clear obvious. It was something he wanted to avoid, even if it was entirely unfeasible that he could just...walk behind Henry forever.

STERLING TENEMBRAGE