"Up to you." Snuggle, snuggle. "So this is the place, huh?"
"Cozy," Nathan pronounces after a silence.
Squishing-squeeze. And a kiss on the forehead.
"Love you, honey," he murmurs.
It is naptime. The time is nap.
Nathan cannot nap. But he can hold his mate and close his eyes.
It's Ghosty, now wearing a body of her very own again, who eventually brainphones Pattern.
[Hey you,] she says, friendly-like. [The deck's gonna be up and at 'em again soon; can we have a crack at Saturn?]
[Don't see why not,] says Pattern. [The plans are still up on the whiteboard.]
Out loud, she says, "Her Smartiness says we can get back to work anytime."
"Sounds good to me. Wanna come be my snuggle-buddy, sweetheart?"
"Does this involve a lot of waiting around in whatever Pattern's got for a palace and serving as a breakroom feature?" Nathan inquires.
"I'll do it till Kerron's been and gone from sleeping and then I think I'd best get home."
Nathan grins, and accompanies the Jokers to Tethys, and he serves as a breakroom feature.
The Joker splits his time about half and half between enchanting and cuddling Nathan. This means the enchanting part is slow, but it also means lots of cuddles, and that's the important part.
[So hey,] he announces to Pattern, the Jokers, and Jane, [turns out my torching works fine. Also, don't fuck up big spells.]