She smiles and snuggles him. The part of her that loves him glows a little, being praised, being appreciated, being told something that sounds like he actually cares about her and isn't just checking off a box. She's so hungry for it.

Won't last, says the part that's afraid. Won't ever last. Don't think you're safe.

She doesn't exactly tell it to shut up. It's right, of course, as right as the other parts of her. But it isn't what she needs tonight, she doesn't think.

"M'glad," she says. "M'very glad."

"I do know that I have asked - a lot of hard things. And that you're trying at them, very hard. I do know it."

- nodnod. Snuggle. "Okay. I hope it - helps at all."

"It does. It - we need an heir, right, but aside from that - we could build something that was enough, I think - knowing you're trying -"

"You think so?"

Sigh. "I think so. I don't know."

Nod.

She's not actually entirely sure what this means, but - better to leave it there, for tonight. Better not to fight about things when anything possibly good has happened. 

She snuggles him and tries to get some sleep. Might as well go ahead and see what happens in the morning.

In the morning he is in a good mood. He orders in a fancier than usual breakfast on trays for them and doesn't even glare viciously at the servant who brings it and then kisses Korva on the forehead and tells her he has some meetings.

Oh good. She smiles at him about all of this.

(It's amazing, realizing what being even momentarily less afraid is like, remembering what it feels like to not be actively guarding against at least some kinds of blows. Of course, it also highlights how incredibly exhausted she is.)

"I'd like to go check on Verita, then. You can call me here whenever you want me next, right?"

"I can and I will."

"Okay."

She kisses him back and dares to hope that the next horrible thing might take as many as twelve whole hours to surface.

She doesn't leave first, not unless he tells her to.

He leaves.

Then she can see how badly the rest of her life has fallen apart in her absence.

She heads out. Pokes her head into Verita's room. It's empty.

She heads back to her room to see if Zakiya's there.

Zakiya is leaning against the wall not doing anything; she jumps back to cleaning once Korva walks in.

"You're - fine, you know, you don't actually have to clean the room constantly when I'm not using it - "

" - there's not very much to do when you're not using it but I'm not really supposed to sit around doing nothing, right, it's your space."

" - I guess. I kinda like it when you're in it, though."

"I figured. It's - I really like the people, here, everything would be so much harder alone. Are you okay?"

"I - no. Momentarily? I dunno."

"Do you want a hug?"

...nodnod.

Hug. Patpatpat.

Hug.

"Nothing really bad's happened. I don't think. I'm just - I'm so tired."

"Yeah. 's okay."

"He was really happy this morning. So. Got something out of it, I guess. I don't know how the state dinner actually went besides that nobody had declared war yet yesterday."