He was moving as soon as the first word came out of her mouth. By the time she'd finished her question, his arms were already around her. He hadn't even stopped to put down the rag and the beer, so he did a quick shuffle to move them to one hand so he could set them aside. Then both hands were flattened against her, along her back and partially around her side, as he pulled her even tighter to him. He held her like that for one second, maybe two, before he spoke.
"We are okay. We are always okay," he said, his voice low, his mouth close to her ear. "There might be variables, there may be stuff we need to figure out, things to discuss, but there is never going to be a time when we are not okay. Not the way you mean. I promised you, remember? I don't break my promises, Ninkasi. I promised you. So we are okay."
And he meant it. He was freaked out and still trying to figure everything out, particularly if he was the reason things had gone to shit. But the thought of leaving her had never even come up. Not to him. She needed to understand that, she needed to be sure of that, so they could discuss the other things.
He took a slow breath, letting it out through his mouth. "Since you're not resting, you want something to eat? Drink?"
Stable ground. A firm foundation. They needed to get those established. That would give him time to figure out how to ask the things he needed to ask.