( it takes a second for the smile to appear. first comes reproach and hesitation, mostly having to do with the flying comment (but i've never done it before, i wouldn't call it a mission so much as a mad dash, i shouldn't have gone rushing in like that), then the blushing, then the stammering uselessly without actually producing any words. and then the smile.

and what a smile it is. fragile and weak like most of the rest of him now (monster strength and stature aside, that is), but what makes it worth looking at is the glimmer of something like hope in it. a spark of the tiniest glowing ember of confidence. the tentatively heartened sense of encouragement from someone who hasn't heard praise of any sort in a long, long, long time. you see, he just needs a little boost, that's all. the devil-may-care boldness is in there, he just needs to find it again. )

You're, uh. You're welcome. I meanm I think of you all the time, not just when you're... that is, er... I'd come save you from anything. Even. Squabbling birds.

( haw! haw! haw! yeah, malak is definitely gloating. about everything. whatever swagger julian doesn't have anymore, malak clearly kept it in safekeeping for him. )

A-Anyway, did you... have you got everything? I've, uh. Made us a trail to follow back. It was all according to plan.