"Is that a hint or just a factual clarification?"

"...I am still feeling kind of downered, but I guess that doesn't inherently mean it isn't one.  For later."

"Good to know!"

"I - he - was leaning really hard on the, 'this is a cutting edge thing that I'm very privileged to get to take part in, this is really exciting' thing.  But then the dungeon was - seemed really upset.  And I fell back in."

"Yeah. I'm sorry we don't have a way to fix it for this dungeon. But - you're still the best news anybody's had on this in ever, you realize -"

"Yeah.  It seemed worth making out about, before..."  Heeeee is capable of putting his face next to Haru's face.  "Probably it still is."

How about a little cheek-kiss to start.

"Hee."  Gentle forehead bonk.  "...I'm really really incredibly glad I have you around for this."

"I'm glad I can be here! It's, you know, basically smack dab in the middle of my area of intellectual fascination and also I get to kiss you about it and I think I am very fortunate."

"It's nice when things work out like that."  And yeah, okay, smooch.

Yaaaay!

Smmoch smorch kiss.  Down to zero.  Mmmmmmm.

"- Wait, are we putting the bird in the back of your truck or what?"

"Won't fit. There's a warehouse that'll take it for me while they're logging the dungeon, and once it's dead, if the bird survives, if I've found an interested zoo, I can get a trailer to tote it there."

"Okay.  I want to give it some - whatever sashimi is for birds.  Later.  Not necessarily directly, just causing it to have some."

"Do you know what it eats? Usually they've got to try monsters on a few things."

"I do not.  Except like, people, which.  It won't later I don't think."

"Huh, I think of dungeons not monsters as typically being the people-eaters."

"It - I was partially being flippant but I think there's kind of something there anyway.  If we're ready to make the obvious jump about the thing the dungeon wants.  The bird also wanted, and in a more actionable way, even if it - isn't doing whatever thing on the same level as a dungeon."

"Bringing people home to feed to its... parent, in a reversal of the usual bird filial relationship."

"Yeah.  Let's go back to your place?"

"Sure thing."

Back to the truck with them.

Indeed.  "That really could have gone a lot worse, for something like that with no plan.  Except how would we have made a plan when we didn't know at all whether it was going to work and how it would if it did."

"Yeah. We can have more of a plan next time and hopefully even more of one the time after that."

"Yeah.  Incrementing numbers of pats, see if it can understand or get curious about really basic patterns."  Julien can type his own notes, now.  "I should have tried to find out whether I could read it from anywhere inside or if I have to be close to the core, except for how no I shouldn't have because this was already a lot and I stopped awakening literally this morning and that was also a lot."

"Yeah, kind of flung yourself into the deep end immediately."