No, he didn't want to shh or relax, because there were things that needed to be said. Things Tucker wouldn't accept until he heard them from Wash. But it just wasn't coming at the moment, and his teeth grit together for a moment in frustration.

Then, those fingers passed through his hair. Tucker was trying to soothe him, trying to joke through this, and he didn't have the heart to try and stop him. This was a burden he should never have had to carry in the first place. Wash should have kept himself in check, should have held himself back instead of wander out like an idiot to get himself shot.

"Mmm..."

Slowly, he started relaxing once more, watching Tucker talk and simply nodding once in response. Yeah. Wedding might be a lot shorter in that case, but that just meant getting to the honeymoon quicker, right?

Things he wished he could have said.