Perfectly acceptable. Cozy cozy nap.

Aww. Yes, very cozy. And it's a good book, Charles's library is very impressive.

Eventually he wakes up.

Sigh. Snuggle.

Sigh. Snuggle. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Would it maybe help if I rephrased the issue?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"My hindbrain is jumpy because of your past, how we met, and a couple of unfortunate happenstances. I do not expect you to rape me but it would make things much easier in the long run if you soothed my hindbrain by promising not to."

"I think... there's a sense in which it would be insane to trust me," he says. "You say 'my past', but I lived that way for more than a century, and I'm trying something new now but I haven't turned into a completely different person, I just..." He shrugs. "There are good things about civilization. Sugar cookies. Beds. But I think my favourite of the good things I've discovered recently is making you happy. I want to... be a good thing for you."

She considers this. "I can work with that," she says, snuggling up. "I love you. And I sort of am insane, by most people's standards, what with the whole ripping the blood from my veins thing."

He laughs. "I'm pretty sure that's different."

"True. But..." she mulls this over. "There's the kind of insane that is deciding to trust you when you declare positive intent, and there's the kind of insane that is deciding you must have positive intent because you're beautiful and the sex is great and you have a pretty smile, and I am a lot more willing and able to be the first kind than the second kind."

"That makes sense."

Snuggle.

Snuggle. "So--that's what I needed. A declaration of positive intent. And 'I want to be a good thing for you' works as well as what I technically asked for."

He smiles. "All right."

"Beds are pretty great, though, this is way comfier than snuggling you on the ground."

"It is!"

"You have the most beautiful smile."

"Thank you."

Snuggle. Kiss. "--Oh, d'you want to hear about wing-related progress?"

"Yes!"

Wing-related progress is divulged. Hank's breakthrough was that she obviously didn't have to have her wings shaped the same all the time while she was flying, which allowed for a whole slew of interesting transition effects and potentially fancy air tricks--

"--and they're going to see if Sean can fly, too, with a glider suit and using his voice for lift and thrust, and Charles wanted to know if you'd hang out during the flight tests to catch either of us if we start falling."

"Sure."

"Cool, then we can use the satellite dish like Erik wanted--Hank said we should at least start with a window in case of mishap because it's lower but if you're acting as a safety higher is fine. Brilliant." Kiss.

Kiss.