"Because I can take it," Krem said. He reached out and cupped the side of Thomas's neck, gentle, smiling as he yawned. The softness of sleep suited him so well, dampened some of the lines of worry and strain from his face, made him look young and careless.

"Still a lot of stress from the past couple weeks. Lots of people needed this. And I can take a beating." He smudged his thumb softly along the underside of Thomas's jaw. "Can we lay down? I'm exhausted."