"No--aah," Ratchet says, shivering under York's palm before he shakes his head a little and wrests control of himself.

"York. No. That's not--that's not why I hesitated. Come here." He wraps a hand around York's wrist to keep his hand from going anywhere else before he tugs a little, reaching out to drag York down against him, all of York's warm, solid weight pressing him down into the couch. He just breathes for a moment, tucking his head against York's shoulder so the lower half of his face isn't visible and murmuring low into York's ear.

"Look, the answer is never. Not like this. I'm--" He sighs, wishing he could see York's face but not wanting to risk being overheard. "I'm not... human. Or I wasn't before I got here. I think whatever brought us here changed me the same way it did some of the others, but I didn't want the Cetagandans to know." He loosens his grip a little so York can pull back if he wants, his whole body tense again now, the corners of his mouth crimped.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to say something but--" He gestures helplessly. "It's not that I didn't trust you to know, I just didn't have a good way to tell you."