"It means -" He's never had to explain this out loud before and, like his own name, the one at the heart of him, the one he first answered to, it takes some work to believe it's okay to try now. He licks his lips, tries again.

"I see you. I've got you. Encouragement, and affirmation." It can be done at attention, mid-spar, in the night all unobtrusively. "Just... anything, between us in that moment. Something just for us. A question, or an answer, or a way to be together when someone else is watching, or you can't reach or be heard."