The growl didn’t make Aoba flinch like it had before but he did look down. He would have muttered another apology, but turned his attention to the wandering hand. A moment of defensiveness struck him when Kuro touched where the wound had been but he held his tongue. Sure he could have fixed it himself, but it wouldn’t have healed as fast. He couldn’t deny that not having his holy energy hindered that. However, his mind strayed from the thoughts as Kuro’s hand continued to feel about. He could feel the sudden goosebumps and suppressed the faint tint to his cheek when he shivered. 
 
The comment shifted his attention once again and he playfully stuck his tongue out. “Well it’s not like I can sit and do nothing here. I actually have a job to do for once.” It was something he had thought about constantly since he was tossed on Earth. Seeing his old boss only reminded him of what he could’ve had, but also of what he hadn’t lost. In fact, the only real thing he lost after being casted away was his Grace and his halo. Absentmindedly, he reached up to check to make sure it wasn’t there. Like he expected, that was gone as well. His attachment to it was still there, but the longer he was away the more he realized it wasn’t...that bad. 
 
Both of them were standing and that’s when Aoba noticed Kyou off to the side and peeking out the barn door once again. The angel looked a little embarrassed, moreso because he had forgotten the demon was inside the barn with him. He still managed to reciprocate the kiss and then hold on as they jumped down to the bottom floor. “Right. Mama and Otto.” Aoba gave a nod before giving a small wave to Kyou. “I’ll try to be quick about it.” The angel turned, tucking his wings back behind him instead of having them sag towards the floor. 
 
The trip inside was quick, mainly because he wasn’t so wrapped up in his own thoughts. Before he headed to grab another shirt, he stopped by the bathroom. For a moment he could only stare at himself. He still had bits of dirt on him from sliding in the dirt, his eyes still had a faint red color from crying, he looked...tired. Aoba ran fingers through his hair and then dragged his hands across his face. “Ugggh…” After splashing water in his face he sighed. “I’m mean… it’s not worse than demons attacking. It’ll be fine.” Aoba gave an affirmative nod to himself in the mirror. He survived demon attacks and Issho. He could survive this too. For a brief moment his mind wandered to Kuro’s mention of another brother who by the sound of it, was into collections. That didn’t sound so bad. It did however make him wonder if he had any sisters because if he hadn’t been mistaken including Kuro, he had met only those four. He wasn’t too eager to meet his entire family but Aoba figured it would probably be best to build some sort of… tolerance to family visits.
 
When he walked out the house, he was buttoning his shirt as he went, getting to the last button when he made it to the barn. He walked through and out into the pasture to see Kuro, sure enough, waiting by Mama and Otto like he said. Aoba waved, looking back to his usual self, more or less. “Alright!” Aoba paused and looked around. “Actually… we’re done with the work today, yeah?”