[ It speaks to Five's inexperience with the human condition that he's completely unprepared for Kamala's emotional reaction to his story. It was supposed to erase her concerns, and instead she latches onto him the way no one ever does, unless they're moving in for an attack. He tenses reflexively, as he has before when she surprised him with a hug, but doesn't pull away as that strange feeling hits him again.

He might later reflect on why he decided to tell her the truth, when the truth only proves that her worry was justified. In the moment, the novelty is too strong for him to fully process his reasons. His family has never embraced him like this. They're practically the same height, and there's something comforting in that it doesn't make him feel smaller than he is. He shouldn't need to be consoled at his age, but it's been... a hard couple of years. After a hard few decades.

It's still not right to have her care this much, but he finds himself lifting his arms and placing them behind her — tentatively, like he's only figuring out how this works. ]

You shouldn't. Not about me. [ Except he knows she has every reason to. He's been unstable, and could have done a lot more damage. ] ...I thought that the cure would be worse than the disease. I was wrong, and I wasn't there.