The kiss surprised Elijah, the same way affectionate gestures seemed to, always, when someone else initiated them. But he returned it, just as softly, and gave Ric a wry sort of smile, glad he got it, and even that, now, he hesitated, if only for a moment.

"It probably is best to keep the daggering of siblings as Niklaus's thing, or we'll have an epidemic on our hands," he said lightly, not feeling like they needed to dwell on the trust thing or...whatever else.