Mr. Tully was… well. Difficult as always. Maybe that was a part of why it irked him so much that Aslan could have ever put any trust in him – but that was not what this was about.

He was not thinking about that. Couldn’t, if he meant to keep himself on the right side of the law long enough for Tully to scamper off again.

Malachi felt his smile finally falter, but not long enough for him to lose hold of it completely.

“I wanted someone to know, I suppose,” he confessed. “And you’re the only one that understands.”

There were others that would listen, that would probably offer something other than a cold shoulder to his admissions, but he couldn’t tell them. Not now. It was just… over. Tully was the only person alive besides himself and Aslan that even knew it’d happened.

“Aslan was very important to me, and… I just needed to say it to someone.”

Malachi dipped his head reverently, allowing his smile to fade. Without it he just looked exhausted.

“You have no interest in clearing the air between you and me, then?”