The word had touched a nerve in Laurent, though Damen didn't know why. He felt and then saw that tension spread over Laurent's body. Instead of going on the defensive, Damen tried soothing away the fraught reaction with hands that stroked at Laurent's shoulders. He nuzzled at the curve of a clavicle. "I would rather act than hope, Laurent." It was something he tucked away for later, something he didn't want to distress Laurent with right now by questioning him, but his curiosity and concern were both piqued.

Damen slid upwards for a moment. His lips made a soft imprint on Laurent's, coaxing him back to presentness, to relax with something familiar and good; the warm taste of Damen's mouth, the close embrace of his arms wrapping around, the brush of dark hair against Laurent's cheek. He held this for longer than he'd planned to, enjoying the simple intimacy of it.

He touched Laurent's shoulders. "Lay back for me?" He would not normally frame it as a question, but Laurent's wishes were too important to him to risk the return of trepidation with anything like an order.