"No... leg braces are a bit of a turn off." Dolemeck grinned when he was asked about the girls at that school. "I'd even get questions like "does it still work" and such."

He took the time to listen to everything Ilya told him. his hands gently rubbed his arms and back as they hugged, trying to keep him calm.

"I am sorry you lost your family. No one should go through that, Ilya." He continued to open his heart to him, knowing it was something Ilya needed. No. It was something they both needed. "I know it is not much, and it may not make you feel completely better... but this school can be your new family. That is what this place is to me. It is perhaps the most stable place I have ever been."

He had a few tears in his own eyes. Ilya was so pained. While not the same as his own pain, it had a familiar feel to it.

"You have done wonderful things for me, already. I can talk to you, like really talk to you. I do not have to hide my pain, and you do not treat me like I am different or awkward." He went back to smiling. "You give me hope, for so many things, and you make my heart flutter. I never felt that before."