Lloyd did not disappoint - his indignation shone clearly in every word he spoke - and Kratos accepted it all without complaint: it would have been far more disturbing, far more uncomfortable if Lloyd had brushed off his crimes with ease. It was...this was right. Now that he'd finally gone and revealed the truth he'd tried to hide for so long, he could feel that this was the way things had always been meant to go.

It still hurt, though. Kratos might have faced another night not too different from this one before, but that did not make the sting any less.

"He did care." And he had, even though nothing he'd done pointed that way. He had cared, and very much so. "But he was afraid. Afraid of what you would think, of what might happen to you - of becoming attached and then losing you..."

Randomly, he wondered what the Professor would think were she to see him now. Probably sigh, roll her eyes, and then tell him it was about time he actually gave a straight answer to someone of his own accord.

"That proved fear enough to keep him silent."