"I'll be fine," he assured, brushing out a wrinkle he left on Weiler's shoulder before continuing on. Locke smirked down at him. "You've built yours up, though. Now when they see you walking around, they'll think twice before badmouthing the guy who almost fired someone's bits off."

He almost gave Weiler a proud ruffle of the hair, but thought back to the time he barely smacked the guy's head and got an earful of complaints for an hour, thinking better of it. Instead, Locke patted just below the back of his neck, where the collar was pressed so straight and firm that there was no way a little pat would wrinkle it.