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Ignacio watched as she went for her phone, trying his best to keep his nerves deep under the surface. It did feel in the most minute way odd to encourage someone against trying, but he knew Faustite. He knew the type of person Faustite was in the name of Metallia. For someone to like that or be okay with that enough to be married--

He wasn't convinced Albite wasn't just very good at wearing a jovial face while committing mass murder. He wasn't convinced Albite wasn't the type that wouldn't have stayed with Chaos even without the influence of the corrupting Negaverse. He remembered what he saw in Ganymede's entry. He knew he was Praxidike. That hadn't changed much. It sounded like an increasingly unlikely scenario. He was married to Faustite.

And Nectaris was important to him. Livie was important to him. And even as she showed him the graphic on her phone, what she had accepted as her philosophy, he was still fighting his mind on the imagery of her starseed being stolen and eaten, her life being ended even just by a foot to the neck, her returning to him back with the outfit she wore when they first met, everything that was her, lost--

He swallowed, hard.

These were the same things he had fought with himself over Anser about, over Basiluzzo about--

"I appreciate that you'll be careful." He wrung his hands as he attempted to keep eye contact. He wasn't eating his mac-and-cheese anymore. "And I believe you will be. You're smart. The first thing you did was work to figure out who Faustite was." Maybe that was self-reassurance. "I wish you had some more protection against other things," he swallowed that down, "but we can work on that."

He'd tell himself that at least. There was no rush to build a bond to one's homeworld or wonder. He could encourage it, the way he tried to do with Basiluzzo, but he couldn't press the fast-forward button, and Albite was very much a Now Problem, not a Later Problem.

His brows rose at the suggestions.

He liked it. He liked being able to defend his sister. But-- "His husband and I have a ... history. He probably knows who I am." His fidgeting had increased to tap-tap-tap on his side. "Is being linked with me a good idea for your safety? I don't know if that would just make this harder--"

Ignacio snorted, appreciating the joke for what it was, even as the other part of his brain, the anxious part of his brain, supplied the reality that no amount of bubble wrap was going to stop a hand that could magically seek out the item that held her very soul. It could penetrate skin, clothing, bone, everything else already. What difference would bubble wrap make?

What if Albite was cut from the same cloth as Faustite?

What if Albite used their closeness to one day steal her starseed? To teleport her in front of Laurelite? To-- "I could probably rock a bubble wrap dress too," it was an attempt to distract his worry that wasn't working. "I think you could work it."

He didn't necessarily look happier. His expression did brighten up a bit, though, when she mentioned a party in space. She knew him well. One of the things he wasn't likely to reject was space, especially if there was an opportunity to explore--one he rarely took these days outside of space, too wary about what may have been lurking--and perhaps help restore space to its former status. He had been to the Moon. Never to a wonder of it. "Look, I'm never gonna reject a chance to go to space."

Hearing she didn't want to hide who her friends were was a bit of amusement and worry both because he did want to hide his. There was a reason why he and Basiluzzo acted the way they did. There was no point in hiding the way he and Pendour were because it was already known, but knowing Encke loved Basiluzzo could give the Negaverse leverage. It could give the Negaverse leverage to know how important Encke and Nectaris were to each other--

Especially considering how Nectaris had left.

"So long as he doesn't bring in Faustite," he offered, grimly. "Or just tells him so the next time he shows up."

He fidgeted, sighed, and finished with, "I'll think about it? I don't want to potentially put us in a bind." Or her, more specifically. "For now, just," he thought he made it pretty clear where his thoughts lie, and it was tempting to bring it up again but perhaps it wasn't, "if you need me, send me a distress signal. I'll come running."

Ignacio swallowed. "And try not to lose who you are."

There was an irony in having more attachments both meant more support and more sources of worry. And he wouldn't trade it for anything, especially not the alternative, but--

"Good." He let out a breath that wasn't quite relaxed but seemed to be an attempt at getting there. It was hard to say if it had worked, though he did continue with, "Promise not to grandstand and just get to what needs to be done when I get there."

He swallowed hard, burying the image that continued to haunt him.

He and Basiluzzo had discussed it. They had agreed that Encke would ease his worry back and couldn't force Basiluzzo to not do anything, while in turn, Basiluzzo would try to be a bit less reckless, a bit more measured. Did the thought that Basiluzzo almost died that day still haunt him? Absolutely. And considering it was the second time by the same person, the concept of Nectaris being adjacent to him--

Ignacio lifted his arm to wrap around her shoulders and tuck her in just a bit closer.

"Sorry to put a damper on the not-ex excitement." His smile was lop-sided as he added, "For what it's worth, do hope I am wrong."

He wasn't sure he was, but ... Livie deserved to have that family back.

Ignacio rubbed at his chest again with his free hand.

It was strange when she cited being an optimist. At some point between the youma life, the deaths, the murders, the events he had seen; while he kept himself surrounded by optimists, after all, Basiluzzo and Viatrix and Pendour generally were too, it was hard to say he was one himself. A realist, maybe. He wouldn't go so far as to say he was a pessimist, but there might have been some people who disagreed.

He still held onto hope, though, as distant as it could seem on occasion. "It's pretty strange, yeah," he laughed airily. "Guess we have chaos to thank for that."

Had it to thank for Faustite, for Albite, for the fact that Livie even had to worry--or moreso, he had to worry--about her falling for someone that might simply decide to end her life. Had it to thank for a lot of things, none of which were desired or wished for. If they had never been in chaos, if they were all fully human, if they weren't housing monsters or Metallia's will or whatever--though his life would be quite different he supposed.

Her next words were sweet, though, and a reminder that perhaps everything would be alright.

Ignacio looked down at her, brushing a piece of hair behind his ear so he could get a better look at her face. "I'm glad we can have these moments. You deserve that ... and honestly, I'm glad to have you, too. You belong here. And I'll support you no matter what, alright?"

He picked up his mac-and-cheese, stole a small bite from it by hardly managing to lift his silverware out of the cup, and slid it to her without his own silverware in it. "Sure," he laughed, a little brighter than he had been. He was trying, at least, at least tapping into the faking it until he made it energy that perhaps had been his earlier acting classes. "I'll probably want more later, honestly, but I'm just gonna let my stomach settle for now."

For a lot of reasons, really.

"Not going anywhere, though."