Yeah. [ well, no. in fact, kaiser prefers it when noa doesn't pay too much attention to him most of the time, but kaiser has to say that just to get this uncalled for jab in: ] That's the thing about guys who pay a lot of attention to teenagers more than ten years their junior, you know? So easily distracted by a new young thing.

[ kaiser smiles horribly again. somebody who knows him well enough could probably imagine him practicing this one in a mirror — confident yet restrained, at somebody else's expense. he won't squeeze noa's hand any harder, but he does push his pinky and ring fingers between noa's for that saucy interlacing, rubbing the pad of his thumb against the muscular part of noa's palm, right underneath the thumb. he probably saw this in a movie or something, noa shouldn't read into the implications too much unless he wants to really delve into how broken kaiser came out of the metaphorical box.

also, kaiser will be sure to have a thorough cringe over this later, when certain reveals come out. ]

What does somebody want when they have a trophy? Holding it is the point, not the means.