[His heart both swells and aches at those words. Harpocrates had said similar, and it had made him hurt in much the same way. Praise for his efforts had been so difficult to come by, despite how he had bent over near backward to do anything and everything for those he cared for.

For his father. There was no dancing around that fact.

And yet he still doubts. Maybe he's done things to be proud of, but he has also sinned. His hands are so very bloody, and he wonders how any amount of repentance could ever fully wash it clean?

But such thoughts will get him nowhere, and are hardly fit for the moment they're sharing. He tucks them into the back of his mind and offers a grateful smile to Joshua. It's genuine, for all his doubts, he deeply appreciates the reassurance.]

I suppose I have learned from some of the best. The way you and your brother have showed me has no doubt changed the course of my life.