Guy hadn't taken too well to what he'd just said, but it was the hardness in his friend's tone that made him fully realize it. He could practically hear the frown in Guy's voice, and, for a second, it was hard to know whether he ought to feel relieved or worse about all of this. Guy's willingness to help him deal with his problems, despite his own mounting issues surrounding what had happened in the basement and the aftereffects, was truly a touching gesture. As horrible as this place was, Claude knew he was lucky to have such reliable friends, and even luckier that he'd been able to meet some of them within the institute's walls.

The thought made his heart tighten in his chest, not only from gratitude, but from the heavy realization that he wasn't going to be of much use to the people he cared about if he stayed like this for long. It was a conflicting feeling, one that he tried to avoid whenever possible. Now that he was faced with such a situation, however, it was hard to know what he ought to do with himself while he waited to see if he recovered.

"Guy..." Claude paused, turning his face toward the direction of his friend's voice. Opening his mouth again, he found himself uncertain of what to say at first. Words didn't really seem adequate, and yet that was all he had to work with. Finally, he scratched the back of his neck a little and offered a tiny smile. "Thanks."

There was something that had been on his mind ever since he woke up this morning, though. Well, a lot of things, actually, but now seemed like as good of any to bring this issue up before they talked about anything else. "Actually, there's...a small favor I'd like to ask, if that's okay."