Sterling was entirely unwilling to allow his boyfriend to hate the creature he'd become. The man was capable of near selfless love, one that was surely fostered by his own difficult relationship with his mother and his efforts in caring for her before her death. His own hand gingerly reached up to caress his lover's cheek, his hand flat against Henry's features. He knew well what the animal in that man was capable of, he still bore the scars upon his frame and yet, that being was still his Henry. "Because I know you're still new to this. It was only your second shift and, to be fair, your panther doesn't exactly have the best experience with me. You were confined in a small space and scared and that's why you attacked. Not because you or it was being malicious or monstrous. It's the fight or flight response. The first time you shifted you ran away from me, did you know that? You growled at me and ran away and I think if we hadn't been stuck on that boat, you would have ran away the second time too." At the very least, Sterling understood that animal side of the man far more than he did. He could rationalize it, he could make sense of it, even if he had yet to get on the panther's good side. Though this had made him more cautious, he certainly wasn't about to give up on Henry - not in the slightest.

In fact, it was that determination that surely encouraged the man to near lean into his lover's embrace, that kiss wholly welcomed. He hadn't realized, until that moment, just how much he needed that affection and, in turn, that reassurance from Henry. He stumbled ever so slightly as Henry's arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer and yet, with his body leaning against the man, it hardly interrupted that sweet kiss in the slightest. He was hardly ready, truly, for that kiss to end and yet, when it did, the man hardly had it in him to protest. Rather, that firm grasp of his boyfriend's hands against him only brought a kind of contentment within him that had been lacking of late. His cheek leaned against Henry's collarbone, the man entirely willing to simply stand there and breath in Henry's scent. How he had missed this and how glad he was to have his boyfriend home where he belonged, even in spite of all that happened. That softly uttered apology brought a small simper to his lips, his head burying further into Henry's shirt. "It's going to be okay. It'll all be okay." He muttered into the man's clothing though whether or not that sentence was uttered for Henry or more for himself still remained to be seen.

STERLING TENEMBRAGE