"It's always easier to help someone else than help yourself," Devero says, and yeah, he's speaking from experience there. Then again, he's a man who had pretty much his whole identity shaped around the core concept that helping is about the most noble, righteous thing a person can do, so maybe it's no surprise that he finds giving succor much easier than asking for it.

He opens his hands up a fraction, enough for that thumb to move more easily or reach farther, but otherwise does not yet relinquish his hold on Yondu's hand.

"What are you scared of?" he asks. He can make some educated guesses based on everything Yondu's told him so far, but he wants to hear him say it. That's what Koumyou keeps doing to him, after all, and damn if it isn't helping.