“Oh goodness, no, no!” Patience shook his head quickly, and then winced as it throbbed at the movement. “No,” he repeated after a moment. “I can’t do that, even if I wanted to, which I don’t. That’s not what I’m about. I promise you.” He sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. If only he could leave it there, but, it just wouldn’t be fair not to be completely honest.
“But… if you are around me… a lot… as you have been…” Patience sighed. “It’s like second-hand smoke. You’ve been passively… absorbing, I guess, my influence. I just… I wanted to help you. You needed help. I just wanted to give you the strength to get through when you were struggling. I didn’t do much, you already had it in you, I just… I didn’t do much…” He trailed off, looking down, feeling like he’d done something wrong after that look of horror on Armaan’s face. He felt suddenly like he’d violated Armaan without really meaning to. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out,” he mumbled, glancing up to check Armaan’s reaction.