Shen Yuan lets the silence last, for a moment, sipping his wine with his free hand, and then says, "Galahad suggested he and I practice asking for help, together. But we were truth-spelled at the time, and I couldn't make the promise to do it. It hurt him, that I couldn't." He frowns a little. "I think if I could have lied and made the promise, I could have made it true later, and spared him feeling like I didn't want that vulnerability with him. But I didn't, in the moment we were talking about it. That's what I meant, earlier, about comfort, and habit. Sometimes you're just not ready."