"I guess that's... not as bad as it could have been."

"They aaaaare," sighs Path, adjusting his wing around her.

"Yeah. So they had a bit of a standoff with the remaining members of the people who had raised her - Veron might have been able to get my mother to kill them, but that risked several things, like not being able to calm her down after she started and the death tolls reaching ridiculous amounts. So, he agreed to go with them if he could keep her calm and they could not murder him."

Vern trills happily, snuggling Path. "So are you, too. But you knew that already."

"Reasonable decision, all things considered."

"Yes. Yes I did," says Path.

"Pretty much. So - our mother had us, and they decided that they weren't going to touch her for fear of her freaking out again and causing mass murders. But us, they could use. Ironically enough, neither of us fit the role they wanted us for at all. Zeviana didn't want to get married off and bear lots of children, and I didn't - er. Sleep around."

"Good! If you didn't, I would have to remind you."

"...I am now imagining you interacting with a bunch of people who want you to be promiscuous for the sake of the magical gene pool and I am generating kind of hilarious mental images. Correct me if it was more depressing than 'adorable with lots of blushing'."

"I am sure you would," says Path.

He snickers, a little, blushing. "I mean, I guess it was kind of adorable? Most of it was just annoying, though. I didn't like any of my options as potential partners, so I just... Didn't do that. Then more people would bother me to sleep with them and I'd just want them to go away because they were annoying and I had a cool spell to work on."

Nuzzle, nuzzle. "I'm also glad that I can cuddle. If I were a bug that would be terrible."

"I am glad you don't think I'm annoying."

"Yes. I mean, I suppose people who settle as bugs aren't necessarily very cuddly people to begin with."

"You aren't! You're delightful, brilliant, funny, creative... and lots of other things that would take a while to say. Their method was mostly just - 'Behold, I am female and pretty, therefore we should make babies' and I just found that bewildering."

"True. Maybe there's a really cuddly dragonfly somewhere that we just don't know, though?"

"Whereas I was all 'I'm female, pretty, and want to send Yambe Akka into retirement'..."

"Maybe," says Path. "I don't think we've ever met someone with a dragonfly personally."

He giggles. "Yeah. That's pretty amazing, all in all."

"Ah, well. Maybe I will! Then I can tell you if they're cuddly or not," says Vern brightly.

Snuggle.

"I will listen to your report with interest," giggles Path.

Snuggle! "They only started trying drugs when I proved to not want to screw everything female that moved."

"Good! It will be an interesting report."

Isabella sobers. "They never got far with that, did they?"

Path trills happily.

"No. I mean, a few times I spent a day or two in my room with the door locked trying to get over whatever the thing they gave me was, but they never actually managed to - uh. Take advantage. The first time it happened it was close, but Ana was there and stopped that one pretty handily."

Vern snuggles Path. This is helping quite a bit with keeping Adarin and Isabella's conversation less sad, at least on Adarin's end.

Isabella hugs her boyfriend.

Path is glad to help.

Hugs! "It's alright. That's what twins are for. There was a lot of looking out for each other."

"Now that we're going to officially live here - is there any problem with us just staying with you? We don't mind moving out if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Makes sense," says Isabella.

"Nooooo stay," laughs Path. "We like you to be here with us."

"Yeah. She's still not very cuddly, though," Adarin says.

Vern giggles, and nuzzles Path. "That's what we wanted, but we didn't want to push."

"I noticed she didn't hug me. False advertising."

"Where would you even go?" wonders Path.

Adarin laughs. "Well, maybe she will eventually. I think she was preoccupied with being angry with me, then being angry at other things."

"We don't know. We'd probably solicit alethiometer answers, or something. It doesn't matter now, though, we get to stay with you!"

"She does seem to have quite a reserve of anger. Not that it was all unjustified."

"Yes. Good," says Path.

"Yeah. You haven't seen her when she's not angry, unfortunately. She can be rather nice when she's not. Not cuddly, though. The hugs she gave me were rare, special things."

Vern shifts in the snuggles to scoot her head under Path's. "We like it here so much."

"Charlie used to tell me that anyone who stops being nice when they have feelings isn't being nice at all. I've never been sure how much I agree with him."

"Good."