His breath's considerably sharper, more swift this time. Curtis tightens his hold on Dejah, unable to keep from responding to her urgency.

And normally he'd welcome it, but abruptly, it's like sandpaper on an open wound -- too much to handle after being so overloaded by what happened with Edgar. He breaks away, tries to catch his breath, wraps his arms around her as he rests his head on her shoulder.

It's harder some days than others, reconnecting with the pieces of himself he tried to discard. The ones that still worry and say too much, too much, because the last time something was too much and Curtis couldn't pull himself back, it ended in blood and death.