[ Bastien grins, but his familiarity with that anxiety makes him pause, searching By's silly expression for the seams of a mask.

Seems genuine. Still: ]

Dangerous and safe. Ma chère contradiction.

[ He can't resist his pinch of bread anymore, so he puts it in his mouth, over to one side, and talks around it. ]

Someone who will burgle and blackmail the wicked and save imperiled innocents, and then come home and snuggle— [ no avoiding that absurd word, might as well lean into it with relish ] —with me and our forty-seven dogs. What a rare gem.