Hopeless waited patiently when Ghastly pulled away, smiling slightly at the fussiness. Ghastly wasn't precisely a fussy man, unless one saw him with his sewing. It was a subtlety in him, that he was so gentle at heart.

He didn't feel the need to drag Ghastly by the hand the whole way to the shelter, but as they came to the door he put a hand on Ghastly's shoulder. "He's in the antechamber," Hopeless said quietly. "I'll come in with you, at first, but I'm not there to mediate unless I absolutely have to. You're leading. You're in control."

Hopeless turned Ghastly to him, to catch his gaze. "My suggestion is not to hesitate, not to think, before you go in," he said. "If you need to marshal yourself, do it now." He smiled. "So I can prod you out of it."

Then he gave Ghastly a little push, not to force him into the shelter but to indicate that from here on--it was Ghastly driving events. What happened depended on Ghastly finding the will to surmount that first, terribly difficult step. Good thing Hopeless had faith in that. "Go. Distribute."