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This is probably one of my favorites so far. I love Lex here. I love the expressions. I love the concern.

I hope folks don't mind the storyline I touched on here. I wanted to do it in order to touch on some of the universe and the struggles these guys face. I wanted to touch on Lex and Toby's backstory and emphasize that these guys are close.

That said, the story was inspired from real life.

First, the simple part. Toby's reaction was inspired by those moments where you just do something without thinking because you are genuinely scared. Particularly true if you are scared of someone else being hurt.

That brings me to the second point. Fearing that your loved ones could be targeted for violence because of you. This came about in a discussion around same-sex couples and showing public affection. You can be the most out and proud person in the world, but when your loved one is involved -- if you risk drawing negative attention to THEM -- things change.

Finally, I had originally planned to have this comic clarify Lex and Toby's relationship. Are they just friends or is there more to it? The comic really doesn't clarify it much and in fact the "family" comment just makes it more ambiguous. I think I'm fine with that. "Family" should be enough. These two care a lot about each other. They know each other well. They worry about each other and they can also hurt each other.