A new story. Sei's face lit up again, and he didn't flinch away from the kiss to the top of his head, growing more accustomed to them every day. A new story! Like his books and video games, like the stories he used to tell his secrets, to tantalize the treasure-hunters, of a kind. Trip said the right thing, easily falling upon the answer like his namesake, stumbling blithely into success.

Inhaling deeply, eyelashes glittering with unshed tears of joy, he raised his hands to cup over the comparatively absolutely massive ones holding his face.

"Am I amazing?" he asked, looking up into those artificially blue eyes, reaching for the praise he desperately wanted to hear from someone whose opinion mattered more than most; after all, Trip and Virus were two of the three people in his life he'd needed to please more than anyone. If he heard it from the horse's mouth, perhaps he could believe he was worth enough to feel less like an imposter when talking to Leo or Kusakabe. Maybe if Trip validated him just that much, he'd have the courage he lacked when he was with the other men.