Ashton breathed a sigh of relief - or at least as relieved as he could feel in this position right now. Gyoro and Ururun weren't necessarily dead, and that was the best feeling he'd had in weeks. Whether or not he would associate that feeling with Xigbar's arms around him would remain to be seen. He kept trying to remind himself that Xigbar didn't have a heart, and that he couldn't feel anything, but that fact was turning out to be just another one of those things that Ashton would end up either ignoring or forgiving in other people.

He smiled, the first real smile he'd had since seeing Claude this morning. "They're not dead, then. They're not dead. I'm so happy!" And his hand, slippery from soap, lifted up and brushed against Xigbar's forearm, in what might have been a gesture of goodwill.

Who knew how long this sudden happiness would linger, who knew when it would be replaced by doubt like everything seemed to do recently. "Thanks, Xigbar. I mean it, thanks. Here, if you get off, I'll wash your back, too."