"I..." Regis leaned into this. The familiar touch, the familiar warmth of Clarus. He took a shaky breath. Then slumped.

"Thank you." So, so quiet. It was all that he could say.

After a few moments, he sighed. "I am missing decades of knowledge to be what they expect of me." Clarus had known Regis at this age. Cor had, too. For everyone else... "What they need me to be." That was not all of the problem. But it was a significant part of it. Regis never was ignorant on purpose.