Better, but there's no need to force yourself. I don't mind waiting for your body to adjust to my proximity.

[Byleth was patient. With this in mind, he paused his ministrations and let his palms rest flat against Claude's back, over the shoulder blades. He could feel the muscles shift as they went through the mechanism of breathing, faster than Byleth's body did it - but he noticed that with other people: they always seemed to be set at a pace a few clicks faster than him. In pulse, in breathing, in when they needed to eat or sleep...

Notably, though:]

Hm. I thought you'd be able to feel the heart beat from the back, but it appears not.