It takes some working through. Sobs turn shallower, then even out again. The teeth in his shoulder bite harder, then soften. There is such grief in every inch of them that the first moment of elation tears through them like lightning. He's firm and solid and here, holding them upright, the words finally landing in their ears. It's alright, he's here, they're safe. And there is still more to do, and they still need to get him home again, but.

They're safe. They're away from needing to stop Dimitri from impaling himself on a blade that never dulls. They're safe. Wherever they are, and wherever they go from here, it's out from under his thumb.

This time when they wail, it lodges something loose. Something that drips up their spine and flexes and blooms and blossoms, all the vibrancy of a sunset and all the teeth of a shark. They feel. All of them, at the extremes of grief and joy, and all of them- a unified I once again- crushes into Dimitri, removing their teeth from his shoulder to kiss his cheek. Their brother. Everything else can be figured out. As they and their Geist are one whole, they and their brother are two halves, like an orange split down the centre. Anything else is irrelevant. He's here, and he's safe from the one thing they couldn't protect him from.