There is a half a moment of hesitation, something that might be as simple as just not fully understanding how Phillip is moving, or why. And then all of the slight amounts of tension in Gustavain leave in a rush, noticeable only in their absence. He winds his arms fully around Phillip and takes one shuddering breath before he stills. He has cried himself out but recently in a different set of arms, there's no tears left, but it's indescribable, every time, the relief he feels each time he has the chance to set his burden down and just be.

The smirking and the rest of it isn't an act, or if it is, it's less that it's something he does to hide any of this and more that it's something he does in defiance. Everything else can be taken from him, he'll give everything he has, but he won't let all of this turn him into someone else. That person meeting Phillip for drinks as old friends is the person he's fighting for and he's not going to let anyone forget it.

Still, this feels good, bordering on obscene in it's intensity, and that Phillip is an Ascian apparently makes little difference. He tightens his arms around him and, after a moment, tilts his head up, hopefully for a kiss.