He wasn't sure where they'd be if he'd kept to his brother's rule. He believed in Gods without names, and forces beyond man's comprehension, and as much as he flipped the bird to 'fate' and 'destiny, and all those feeble knock-off excuses, he felt in his bones that life had took a deep, deep interest in him and Ronan, and had pushed them into one another's path time and time again until they finally got the message: they were supposed to be together.

"Thank you," he muttered. It was to nobody and to anybody. To whatever forces had decided he was a stupid sponge and knew they had to intervine...