Well, that certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting. And it...

It struck closer to home than she could have probably thought it would, if he could go by the look on her face. Her request wasn't about him. It was about her, so she couldn't know...

"I'll try," he breathed out, tightly, after a moment. He wasn't sure he could manage it, as much as was needed, but he would very certainly try. Because he couldn't be there for his ... friend, because, as he'd said, he wanted to learn, because it wasn't going counter to his objectives.

Because she was asking. He was pretty sure this wasn't something she ever mentioned to anyone, let alone asking.

And she was asking, not manipulating him.

But, in the end, she was naming her price - take it or leave it - for her reasons. And he was accepting for his own.