"Oh, Cullen."

He exhales the words, barely audible, before he realizes it. Alistair wraps both arms more snugly around him; rests his cheek on Cullen's hair.

(It's sympathy. It's aching, a little: that Cullen doesn't think himself capable, that -- much as Alistair doesn't want to admit it -- Cullen thinking himself incapable probably isn't inaccurate. It's wanting to argue, and knowing that he can't.)