[ A part of Claude knows that he has been handed some fragile thing, a beacon of trust he's not altogether certain that he rightly deserves. There are others who would treat Rafal with the sort of gentleness that he needs; it is not only Lorenz that makes comments about Claude being unrefined and boorish, and he realizes that he's a far cry from others who could gently lead Rafal to the right place.

Instead, it's the blind leading the blind, only that Claude's inexperience is unmarred by the same horrors that Rafal's life has been coloured with. He turns to him with a small smile and says (and hopes he's not lying), ] You won't regret it. You can count on me.

[ They reach the Apothecary - more importantly, Claude's home - shortly, allowing Claude to usher him inside. ]

First, however, we've got to deal with that curse of yours. [ He ducks under the counter and produces a box of sweets with a flourish. In all honesty, he had originally kept these around for Manjiro; the man was an open book in some respects, and he had quite delighted in seeing his simple but sincere joy at being coddled here and there.

But life marches on and without rhyme or reason, people exit your life. There is no reason that that joy cannot be shared, and there is a particular joy in being known well enough for someone to give you what you please before you have to utter a sound. He presses Rafal into a chair, ungloved hand against his shoulder, the contact firm and deliberate, and places the box in front of him. ]

Have some. They're from some specialty shop a few blocks down -- no better in the city.