"Yeah. He...making me happy makes him happy. I think that's a good place to start."

"I think so too."

"If you'd told me a month ago I'd be glad to have caught the attention of the Lord of the Howling Mountain..."

"It would have seemed very unlikely, I'm sure."

"And yet here I am. Learning magic and taking advantage of this magnificent library and probably not going to die of old age."

"Yes."

"The thing with Necori is probably a good sign too."

"What about it do you mean, specifically?"

"...If he would probably be a swan if your father hadn't met me first, that's a sign I'm having a general rather than solely specific positive effect on his behavior?"

She nods. "Yes. I agree."

"It probably helps that I haven't been trying to."

"That sounds very plausible."

"You'd know better than I would."

"I think there are a lot of ways that trying to change his behaviour could make it harder for him to change on his own, and fewer ways it could help."

"Yeah, I'll just keep on not doing that, then. I like my current strategy anyway. It involves hugs."

She smiles.

"Do you want a hug?" it occurs to her to ask.

"I'm not sure."

"What kind of not sure?"

"I wasn't expecting the question and I don't know what to think of it."

"Okay. Well, it's not a limited-time offer or anything, you can think about it as long as you want."

"Thank you."

"Okay. I don't know if you ever leave the mountain or if your kind of immortality protects against the side-effects of going a long time without touching another person, but..."

"I don't leave the mountain."

"Okay. I hope that's working out for you."