Does Wishbone know a way to get you back? - sorry, not the point. I have kissed my friends for practice before and I am happy to do that.

Oh. OK. Thanks.

And no, he doesn't. In the daydreams where I go home it's mostly because your brothers figured something out in the other timeline. They did seem very determined when I left them, but, uh, obviously it's been a while now.

I'm sure they'll keep trying.

Yeah. They seemed like the type.

- do you wanna -

Yeah.

Huh.

Well, she isn't obviously having a panic attack, that's cool. Definitely elevated heart rate, because hey this sure is a decision she made and it's a really good thing everyone is grading her on a massive curve right now, but she's pretty sure it's not a panic attack.

Kissing is weird.

Some people never really like it. 

It seems like it could maybe theoretically be nice. Plausibly. Someday. Under very different circumstances.

Well, you'll have those. Someday.

OK. Maybe. Hopefully.

She stops kissing him.

" - there, OK, that was fine. And now whatever else happens, nothing can ever reach back and make this one thing not have been fine."

Would it be unhelpful to point out that there's probably some kinda ridiculous time-travelling demonic nonsense somewhere in the universe that could try?

I guess there probably is. But it's about as safe as anything can be, I think, so - I'll take it.

Okay. Hug. Continue to be proud of you.

Thank you. So much.

Annnd now I have a mission to make progress on.

Okay.

She can do this.

She leaves and knocks on Ryan's door again.

" - hi! So, uh, it occurred to me after I left that I sort of invited you to go build houses and then I don't remember getting a definite answer so I think I just assumed it was a no, but then I wasn't really sure why I assumed that, and - obviously you don't have to help but, uh, you can if you want to."

"I haven't really built houses before but I'm up for it if they continue not to be evil houses."

"Oh, I don't really know how either, I'm still learning. But it helps them just to have an extra pair of hands."

"All right, sure."

"Cool."

Houses! Possibly occasional house-related interactions! 

Karen is trying very very hard to reprogram her brain into thinking that this is all going to be OK because Ryan is a safe OK person who will probably not do any horrible things. She isn't sure her brain believes her, or that she would believe her brain anymore if it did, but she's trying anyway.

House construction makes it pretty obvious she's a lot stronger than he is, if that's remotely reassuring on that front.

Ryan does not seem super talkative though he will ask for tools occasionally.

Maybe if she were herself in NORMAL circumstances and wanted things to NOT happen and wasn't instead really worried that she'd have a breakdown at some point, because then maybe nobody will let her do any horribly traumatic god-slaying, and so she needs to be OK and not have breakdowns. At least until she's done with the part of this plan that requires other people's cooperation. 

Karen is not super great at talking either, honestly.

Eventually she'll want to eat dinner and then eventually she can just.... awkwardly follow him back to his room? That seems like the thing to do.

Ryan's room doesn't have a couch. It has a bed and a desk. He sits on the bed. "I am not totally sure that Quendi have invented ....seating... for anything other than eating meals."

"I - think maybe they get tired less." She... stands. And notes that she is internally screaming.

"I don't really know how to - I know that there's theoretically like, a, uh, process of escalation here that'll probably hopefully make things less stressful when it's - time - but I am, uh, having some trouble coming up with viable starting points."

"Okay, well, uh, should I be, suggesting starting points, or would that be useless since you have definitely thought of them and the problem's something else -"