"Alright, then. I hope it's cozy."

"It's an il'ka. Of course it's cozy." 

Lindsey stops for a moment, and hugs Sparrow again. "Doing okay?"

"I think we'll need to curl up for a bit at the il'ka, but... that's no great hardship."

"Yeah. Easier to push on than to go back right now. I get it." 

She lets go of Sparrow, and steps out a little faster, dragging her along by the hand. "Not far now. In fact, I can see its sign — there, look —" 

Sparrow laughs, and squeezes Lindsey's hand back, and lets herself be pulled into the safety and warmth of the il'ka itself. 

Lindsey draws Sparrow past the counters, flashes her ID to a host — "She's with me" — then flags down a server and pays for a private room in the back. 

"There," Lindsey says. "I paid for three hours, so —" she gestures at the bed in the tiny little room. "Get cozy."

"Thank you so much," Sparrow says. And she takes off her coat and boots, setting them to the side, and slips in underneath the bed's covers and lays her head on the pillow.

"I'll check on you in thirty minutes," Lindsey says with a small smile. "Rest well." 

And she closes the door behind her, and leaves Sparrow in the dull red glow of the LED lamp at the bedside. 

Sparrow exhales...

And Dove rushes in to take the space she was missing. 

Nothing to do now, but to rest. 

She closes her eyes, and embraces pillow. 

A timeless time passes. The gentle murmur of the il'ka outside her door fills the space and lulls her to sleep. 

She's safe here, for a little while.

She wakes to Lindsey sitting at her bedside, gently running her fingers through her hair. 

"Wake up, sleepybird," Lindsey croons. "It's been almost an hour and a half."

"Ah..." 

Dove stirs in the covers, nudges Lindsey's hand away, and sits up. 

"Thank you," she says quietly. "I... think I'd like to take you up on that warm drink now."

"You'll have to come out to the back room to drink it. No drinks in the private rooms here."

"That's probably a good policy. Certainly it'd help prevent accidents. Um... Should I keep my clothes on or..." 

"Please, don't force yourself for my sake. I can tell you'd rather be clothed, and that's okay. We can just talk and you can sip your drink and I can pet your hair a little. How's that sound?"

"Embarrassing, but... probably worth it."

"Then you have your answer. C'mere, up up up." Lindsey gets off the side of the bed and tugs at Dove, urging her out of bed.

Dove gets a little smile, gets up, and gets hugged for her trouble. 

"Alright," she says. "A couch?"

"A couch."

They head out to the back room of the il'ka, where girls and a few boys in various states of undress are lounging around, browsing on their laptops, cuddling, and in a few cases doing gentle petting. Lindsey flags down a staffer wearing a pink lanyard, and they come over with a small smile on their face. 

"Evening, you two-and. Having a nice time? Anything I can get you?"

"I'd like to store my coat, and Dove here would like a warm drink. Dove, what would you like - coffee, nectar...?"