"I'll have to tell them why I took so long," He admits softly "and I'd never lie."

His father is going to find out, one way or another (the other, of course, being if he shows up here himself - he hopes Wei-qianbei and bofu can convince him not to do that), he just hopes that he's healthy and able to reassure him when it does happen.

He looks sheepish at the question - she doesn't need to voice it, he knows.

"Yes..." he admits "I had a really bad one when I was very small, and ever since then..."