"I - try how?"

"... A walk, or something? A picnic, maybe?" Pause. "Wait, no, that would make us like Ice and Cypress, nevermind on the picnic, that option is dead to us."

"Permanent moratorium on picnics, huh?"

"Well," he says, almost whimsically, "we can have things resurrected now, if you particularly want to go on a picnic."

"No strong attachment to the idea of a picnic in particular."

"Then the option can remain dead to us."

"We could go for a walk, then, if you like, or - I don't know what else. What do they do in their spare time - it probably looks more like royal paperwork than like strolling around, doesn't it, only they somehow manage to do it - couply."

"... I am genuinely trying to figure out how to be couply about paperwork. Do I - kiss a form, fold it up into a flower, and then sneak it to you? How do you make paperwork couply?"

"I don't know! I'm trying to imagine Ice and Cypress doing paperwork and I suppose the soul birds snuggle while they do it and periodically they gaze adoringly at each other?"

"Maybe," he snorts. "The soul birds are cheating, that's not fair."

"And the others all have wings. Clearly in order to accomplish proper couplishness wings have to be involved somewhere."

"Aha, that must be it. Now the question is, how do we involve wings? Little embroideries on our clothes, maybe?"

"I'm not sure if costume versions work. We'll have to hex them on or something."

"It's the only way," he agrees gravely. "Shall we get started on it right now?"

"Perhaps if we're quick we can rescue Spring and Prime from their wingless lack of romance too, before they get accustomed to just being friends."

"Yes. Quickly, we have to drop everything, we'll let Zevros run the country, this is important."

"But Zevros isn't here! We can't retreat into seclusion to work on wing hexes with no one to install as an interim ruler."

"Hmmm. Let's make my father do it, then. Bury him under paperwork and say we're being cruel and unusual with torture."

"Now there is a plan without flaw, drawback, or room for improvement."

"Yes, I'm absolutely certain that his foresight and moral center will let him run the country well while we're busy working on how to make wings."

"And if he finds it overwhelming to work on by himself, why, we'll just have Ice resurrect your mother."

"Flawless plan. She's got more experience than the both of us with ruling a country, why, we should do that anyway and ask her for pointers."

"What do we need pointers for? We're going to be busy charting for the wing thing. And then when we're done with that we'll probably be overwhelmed with the desire to - preen each other or something and have no chance to put any of her advice into practice."

"Fair point. Alas, we'll remain unenlightened. Not to worry, she can teach Zevros when he returns. He can be heir, we'll run off into the woods and build a nest. Or something."