And now she gives him a nip. Does he want to go back, where they can continue this without the chaperone? Or keep going?

He can't wait until they're out of here and he doesn't have to choose one or the other.

Reluctantly, he has to pick staying. He thinks he needs to exhaust himself.

All right.

She bounces up off of him and lets him get to his feet.

He doesn't actually know how long they've gone, but when he finds himself flat on his back again and realizes he's not quite able to lift his arm to pull himself up, he decides that it's enough.

He lies there, catching his breath, and doesn't have to think about nothing to be at peace.

She's out of breath, bruised, happy. She scoops him up in a bridal carry, nuzzles his forehead, and heads for the door, where Daisy is still standing by and Eluned is distracted by something on a datapad. "Done," she reports.

    "Oh! ...I can walk you back to your room, if you'd like? Er - is - uh - is he all right?"

"Yeah, he's okay."

"He's great, actually," he says, dreamily.

"C'mon, Daisy."

They make their way back to their room. There's a message on the table, but it can wait; bed now. Snuggles. Kisses.

Those are good things.

(He keeps remembering the Dorfu girl's face when they were done and giggling.)

Best Love.

She pets him, and thinks about things - not figuring out what she wants, but figuring out how to explain it. It takes a while for her to come up with it: It's a gift. Not that she feels she has any claim to his arm anyway, but the way he's thinking about it does make sense, even if it's not how she does. And within that framework, it's a gift she's given him, freely, no strings attached, because she wants him to have it. (Kiss.)

Oh.

That feels real.

(And it's safe. You can't take back gifts you've given to people, and they aren't yours anymore. (Some people act like you can, or they are, and they're wrong.) Even if he turned out to be – not worth it – it would be fine. Because she had given it to him.)

She gave him that gift – her pain, for him, because she wanted to, because she could. The doctor didn't, he took hers when it didn't belong to him, but it's not the same thing, and maybe if he finds a way to return something to her, it can be...not fine, but settled.

Yeah.

Dr. Deyne might have an idea of what we can do for her. I'm not sure we should ask around, beyond that. It feels - unsafe, letting it be known that they care like that, for them and for the people they ask and for Mabbet, too.

i think he'll know.

Not for any concrete reason, just because he seems like the kind of person who would know these things.

Yeah. He's pretty good like that. She stretches out, then snuggles back up into a tangle of arms and legs.

So, we've got - heart scan this afternoon - lunch - flower crowns, maybe - not much else today. Anything you want to do?

this is. weird, maybe. but i kind of miss movies.

We can watch some movies. What are you in the mood for?

something sappy where nobody dies and everybody's happy at the end.

She snuggles him agreeably. I don't think I watched movies much before, you'll have to help me find something. She turns on the holoprojector and navigates the menu that pops up.

He looks over the titles curiously.

don't think i've heard of most of these. maybe we should just pick one and see.

Yeah, okay. She looks through some more, paying more attention to the aesthetics of the artwork than to titles or descriptions. She stops at a Dorfu movie: a cute-looking romance with a slightly confusing description but gorgeous underwater sets. How about this one?

aww. let's try it.

He's starting to like this planet already. He doesn't know if it's just because this is the first place they came.

She sends Daisy for snacks and goes to put it on, but pauses. We should wait for her.

He nods and settles in against her to wait.

A perfect time for snuggles.

She's back soon, with flavored puffed rice and a basket full of tiny puff pastries. "Come watch with us, Love? You might like it."

"Yes, Ma'am." She comes back and stands by the head of the bed.

That doesn't seem right. Sure, it'll be weird if someone comes in and sees her snuggled up with them, maybe dangerous, but that's where she belongs.

There is a lock on the door, though. (They have a master key, of course, but they probably won't use it, and if they do, she'll feel pretty justified in killing whoever does.) Scoot over, Love?, she asks, and flicks it home with a wave of her hand.