"OK!"

Then she will take entirely too many comics. Batman and Green Lantern and oh man does he have those old ridiculous Superman comics that are impossible to find in real life. She's not even actually a comics person.

She'll stop when she has a good-sized stack that isn't too large for her to be extremely responsible with. She intends to return everything in exactly the condition she got it in.

Lev has opinions! That one is good, that one is crap, that one's author was really much much better in her run on Spiderman, that one is well-written but the art style ugh.

Ooooh, opinions. These are super welcome because she has precious little idea what she's looking for.

"I've hardly read any actual comics stuff. I like the cartoons but it's always so hard to find comics for a reasonable price, and the continuities are always so - I mean I'm sure they make enough sense to follow them once you know what you're doing, but I super don't."

"...I think you might regret saying that," Lev says, already starting to search through his shelves of comics.

"I have heard that they take some effort to untangle. Very convenient how I have an expert here."

Her comics pile may be about to double in size while Lev debates whether this or this is a better starter book and whether or not that should go after that.

"Um. I mean. You don't have to read these if you don't want to?"

"No no it's fine! I can always put stuff back if I don't like it."

Or if she runs out of brain after this, but then she'll be out a brain and still have Batman comics, which is strictly better than the alternative.

Then he can definitely spend most of the afternoon Having Opinions About Comics with all the puppyish enthusiasm of a person who has never actually gotten to share their comics opinions with anyone before.

Awww! Then she will be here to listen. He's pretty obviously enjoying himself, and she's not having a terrible time either, so.

(Aw man, she's already completely forgotten to be paranoid. The counterfactual kidnappers would have been so successful.)

Eventually she will run out of brain space to store comics information in and ask if he is maybe possibly planning to grab some food at some point.

"Oh yeah! Dinner! Sorry. What do you want?"

"Oh gosh. I dunno. Anything really?"

"I have a cook! She can make you whatever you want! --In practice she makes me a lot of Kraft mac and cheese with hot dogs in it, but you know."

Oh no he's adorable on this axis too.

" - I like American Chinese and Italian and most kinds of fruit and milkshakes and those fancy grilled cheese sandwiches with onions and bacon in them and eating breakfast food at incorrect times of day. When I eat things at restaurants and stuff. In practice I eat a lot of Kraft mac and cheese and am too lazy to put hot dogs in."

"I'm going to tell Edith to make blueberry pancakes," he says, texting her.

"That sounds great. Ideal, even."

"We can eat in the dining room or the library or the movie theater, whatever you want." He usually eats at his desk because he's working but he will leave that out.

"Well, I don't want to accidentally hurt your books, so not here. I guess seeing the dining room would be a good thing to do at some point anyway?"

"I read my books while I'm eating, if they aren't really old or really valuable, you can do that too."

"Maybe when I get used to having this many around. But thanks! That's good to know."

- oh man does he have really old books. She can explore the library in its entirety later, she decides.

"...can I give you a hug?"

"Yeah!" 

Her brain thinks this is a slightly weird time, but it thinks most times are slightly weird, so this is convenient, actually, she won't have to identify potential hug moments herself. And Lev seems pretty cool? Honestly very weirdly cool for someone who thinks he has to pay people to spend time with him.

She sets her pile of comics on a chair and gives him a hug.

Hugs!

Karen is, as reported, excellent at hugs. 

"...I haven't actually gotten a hug since I was"-- he counts back in his head-- "ten, I think?"

" - that's horrible."

- that was maybe an excessively blunt way to say that but it is. Hug hug hug apparently there is a desperate need.

"Nope, I'm wrong, Claire hugged me after our IPO."

"That's not strictly worse but it's one of those things where the clarification makes the direness of the overall situation even more apparent."