He can tell the reassurance is no easy fix. Though he isn't considering it, he wouldn't be surprised to realize there are people left behind who this stranger might still miss. After a lifetime of knowing and being known by hardly anyone, it's the people who he's found in this place that Wrench would fight like hell to keep. It's strange that Deerington has allowed him the kind of connection that his own life never did, but it certainly gives even strangers something to bond over.

Wrench's shock is apparent the moment Neil raises his hand to craft his reply. He's not expecting even the fingerspelling, and it immediately softens the lines of the man's face. The impact is tremendous. For a moment it actually looks like he might smile, but instead, he responds in kind. W-E-S.

He doesn't even properly realize until he's already made the introduction, but it's the first time he's willingly presented himself as Wes rather than as Wrench. The moniker he's hidden himself behind and wrapped around him like a blanket of protection is shed without a second thought, and it doesn't feel entirely wrong.

Where are you from, originally? And what year?