"Protection," he says grimly, although the settled, professional look in Iago's eye tugs him into a moment of soft admiration of it. "It's already been proved that mine isn't sufficient, although Bright Lady be praised so far no one's tried to hurt me indirectly. He'll protect you and Dora-chan if I ally with him. And Cesare-kun, whose potential subversion I'm really very worried about because I think Phibrizzo-dono has at least as much of a hook in him as Dynast-dono has in me."
"Anou-well." He fidgets and colors for a moment, and then, under the table, presses his folded-up sash into Iago's hand. "You used to ask and, well, since you understood when I said no I always wanted to be able to say yes. I wanted to very much," he adds, catching at Iago's hand to try and communicate how much by squeezing it.