#mnnnnngh

At first, he didn’t exactly know how to respond. In all logic, that would have been a joke of a question, if Otto’s tone didn’t betray the seriousness of the topic.

Adrian turned to look at the short, round man with a warm and soft look. It did hold within it some sadness, though…

“That would have been true, once upon a time, if you had asked me that when I first met the new you.” Even back then, the fear had been more relating to the engineer’s own insecurity and depression: after having everything grumble in your hands, knowing you still had a friend was perhaps one of the rare solaces you could ask for.

What could be scarier in that situation than to find out that your friend might have become so unrecognizable, you didn’t know who they were anymore?

“But even then, I was not afraid of you. I was afraid of what I could have lost. So please, do not ask such a ridiculous question again.”