Thankfully, his reaction when she touches him is not to jerk his arm away from her, but he allows his glance - it is still dark, but there is shame and something else, something darker (is it fear, fear of himself, of what he is capable of?) running underneath the surface. Vulnerability, maybe?

"Ibani, no, you have done nothing wrong." He swallows hard, shaking his head. "I just know...I am raw, when I am like this. Unfiltered. I did not...I did not want to scare you, when I am like this."

He covers her hand that is on her arm, and it is him that is reaching for something to hang on to a bit, some form of support. When it should be her that is using him as the rock, the holdfast...

"You have done nothing wrong, I swear it."