Broken Boulder the curse of delight singing-sunlight

He found himself frustrated with Delight's response, and maybe a little hurt. A fair exchange. Was that all this was? An exchange? His gaze averted. It was too easy to pick it all apart, and Alarian loved the path of least resistance. Except— when he didn't.
Don't call it that, Alarian glanced back to him, finding something in his expression that softened what might have been biting words to anyone else. It's not— I don't care about any 'exchange'. You're my friend— I care about you. But that was too much, even now; especially now.
For once, he was rooted to the spot. No excuses came to him, no reason to slip away and leave his friend confused and probably uncomfortable. He took a slow, quiet breath. Best act like that was a totally normal thing for him to say, then. Um, that is— it's not a big deal. Don't, uh, worry about it,
That was absolutely not acting normal, Ali, what the fuck. He huffed out a half-exasperated sigh through his nose. Can we talk about something less... difficult? There was a dry sort of humor to his tone, but it was honest; if they kept going on this topic any longer, he might actually implode.