"I know you don't understand," Richard concedes. There's no point arguing about Alec's feelings regarding himself. That's a much longer, much messier battle, and one Richard has no right to fight head on. "Do you ever accept things you don't understand?" Richard does, because it saves time and energy and understanding everything is impossible, but he's beginning to see that Alec doesn't have the same ease with the concept.

He doesn't move, even when Alec is nearly toe-to-toe with him. "And there are better protectors. You think I'm perfect?" Because he'll happily prove that wrong.