Dal blinked up at him, eyes wide and… almost childlike in their wonder. Gabriel’s never asked anything of him. Even their first time speaking, it was Dal who offered to tell the agent what little he knew.

And now after saving Dal’s life, pathetic as it may seem to others, he was offering to continue saving him; saving him from his own judgment, from homelessness, from losing that one thread of hope that kept him going night after night.

Dal didn’t feel the sting of tears until they spilled over his cheeks. This time, they were from a mix of relief and happiness that shone clearly through them. It wasn’t appropriate, but Dal reached up to ghost the tips of his fingers over Gabriel’s cheek. How awed he was of this man who never judged him, who only wanted to help people like him, who expected nothing in return.

And Dal, with all his artful skill and doing being what men want, trembled to make such an open and honest gesture.

“Thank you.”