He wasn't entirely surprised that DAX pulled away from him, knowing him, but he couldn't say he was happy about it either. There was a feeling like he was drowning, like he was paralyzed and couldn't breathe properly, sinking, and he was reaching out for something to bring him to safety, and he wanted it to be DAX but it felt like DAX was just dragging him down further, unless he'd gone too deep and couldn't tell up from down any further, and then maybe DAX was dragging him up, maybe he should have- maybe he was- this couldn't be-

"This can't be my life... it can't be this way." His voice cracked. "I can't... I don't..."

And then DAX touched him in a way that said he cared, which only made his words harder to ignore and fight against (why would DAX ever lie to him?), why wouldn't he escape the life DAX had described, and his eyes stung sharply for some reason.

"I want to be ZEX," he said thickly, starting to tremble. But wasn't that why he was here? What a childish thing to say, the more he thought about it. He either was or wasn't, there was no matter of wanting. And with the evidence DAX presented him... he wasn't known for running from his battles. But... what did he have to go back to? "You... you wouldn't have to protect him, he'd... I'd..."

He wasn't sure what to say to make this suffocation stop, everything seemed to make it worse, so he held onto DAX and stared through increasingly blurry vision.