[He was almost like a child, Lupin realized. He was like a boy who had fallen into the Seine in the middle of winter while on a midnight excursion...alone. Spock's shields and composure weren't fully in place, Lupin knew. The unchecked emotions and the likely trauma he had faced out in the field would have made most men seek comfort in numbers. However, Spock was in a different set of circumstances. Most men didn't have a racial bond that was shared between millions or billions of individuals, nor did they have to face the sheer pain at having most of those connections ripped asunder in the space of a heartbeat.

That lively yellow flower he encountered in the fractured desert of Spock's mindscape once more drifted to the forefront. Spock stated that they had found a 'familial bond' in the Dome, and that their minds were linked in a way that most humans couldn't comprehend. Lupin still couldn't comprehend it, but it was obviously helpful to Spock...

And, maybe, to Lupin himself.

He huffed in embarrassed amusement and leaned back against the wall. This was his price for trusting a complete stranger with his everything...even if neither of them knew better at that time.]

...I'll stay as long as you need. Hell, I can wake Wilhelmina up if you want her too. I'd want company too if I was in your shoes, though I usually find mine in a bar with a bunch of drunk, happy bastards.