She sighs. "I really don't think it's a pressing problem, I've been up here for almost a year, I really can fill the gaps with naps as needed, I have a lot of practice with that. ...because it's not just a thing up here, it just tends to come up more because..." 

She wants to tell him. She doesn't want him to feel pressured by the knowledge. She doesn't think he'll feel pressured by the knowledge, he seems genuinely concerned, and, and - she's taking too long -

"...because it's harder to find people to cuddle with, up here." She looks away.

"It had occurred to me to wonder if bards ran on hugs but not in exactly that manner."

This gets a real laugh out of her! "I don't think it's a bard-specific thing, no. I just... it makes it much easier to relax and rest, being close to someone I like and trust." 

"So not just in general but while you are sleeping?"

Venn is very good at controlling her facial expressions, which is great, because she has a lot of feelings about his tone of voice there and is delighted to be keeping all of them neatly tucked away in a box!

"Hugs in general are very nice and I am happy when they are a part of my life. Having somebody I like and trust either in my bed with me or close nearby is the only way I've found to reliably sleep through the night, though as I said before I handle it fine with naps." She's putting a fair bit of effort into keeping her voice steady as she says this.

he volunteers as tribute there are too many factors he does not understand involved. "I see. I do not have a standard solution for this as I have never heard of it before."

She gives him an amused look. "The standard solution, as I understand it, is to settle down and get married, which has not as of yet been a choice I wanted to make. Failing that, I take naps, and occasionally get involved with people I meet, if the chance comes up, but the naps do work fine. ...I appreciate the concern, though."

Wow his brain does not really like that this word has been uttered here in this quinzee or else likes it such a shockingly excessive amount that it has circumnavigated the globe to be distressing anyway or possibly both. Shut up brain. He nods.

Actually he might also really not like the phrase "occasionally involved". Is that what is happening here. Is he Occasionally Involved. He is pretty sure that one is not circumnavigating the globe.

...huh. Headtilt?

SAY SOMETHING

"- sleep deprivation is a favored instrument of Asmodean seminary," he says, because that's something, and that's what they were talking about, right, sleep deprivation. "Was, I mean."

"...Oh," she says softly. That plausibly explains his initial concern. 

It notably does not explain whatever the thing she just said made him think, she's not blind, but... pointing that pretty clearly crosses her line for using his body language against him, so she won't. (She's so curious, but - either he'll trust her enough to explain, at some point, or he won't.)

"...it really isn't anything that bad. It often takes me a while to fall asleep, and I often wake up in the middle of the night and need to repeat the process. It's annoying, not torture."

"If you say so."

"I do appreciate the concern." She smiles at him fondly. 

(...She realizes, as she mentally replays the things she just said, that she did not tell him that she was interested in so many words. Ugh.)

"Alas that it is not in itself efficacious."

She looks at him thoughtfully. "...it does help, some.  Or... the fact that you look out for me like that is not unrelated to the fact that I slept better on the ice just now than I usually do, back at the fort."

"I... suppose that... we could do something ridiculous like put you on the night shift so you can be asleep in my quarters while I'm doing paperwork, if it helps to have someone on watch..."

What. Is he - that's both heart-meltingly considerate and would be extremely inconvenient for her usual schedule, her ability to heal other people... 

Headtilt. "...in the spirit of engaging in mutual problem-solving, I will mention that I have on occasion slept in a bed with someone I was close to but not romantically involved with, and it worked fine. If that doesn't sound too fraught to you."

"How fraught is too fraught?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Uh. I don't exactly know how to answer that without more info? But from my perspective it seems like the fraughtness would mostly be impacting you," (because it's not like she's going to catch feelings harder, at this point), "at which point you'd be the judge of that, not me." 

Well that isn't helpful at all. What is he supposed to say, "all that would happen would be a lot of noise in my head and I don't get to not have noise in my head", he's not going to say that. "More info such as -?"

...she catches enough from his body language to be a bit concerned. "...would it be hurting you?"

What does that mean. "...do you wear sharp objects to bed?"

She shakes her head (and does NOT laugh, because he genuinely doesn't know what she's trying to say) "The category of things I am worried about is like: you might find it burdensome or unpleasant? You might prefer to not have someone in your bed with you? You might prefer to only have someone in your bed with you if you were having some kind of romantic relationship with them... Are you interested in romantic relationships at all, I'm usually a good judge of this but genuinely cannot tell with you..."

"Well, neither can I."