"You want a hug." It's not a question.

“…. Yeah,” she admits, because, well. It’s extremely true.

Well. Sure. Fine. He'll hug.

...like a koala. He wraps both arms and both legs around her and rests his head on the soft bit between her shoulder and her neck.

Squeak.

This is really very distracting, especially with how he is completely naked, and, and.

“Thanks,” she says, anyway, relaxing into him because. It’s really very nice, okay. And he means well and is fortunate enough to have a libido that apparently just has an off switch she is so jealous. “Though, um. Maybe just the arms for complicated human reasons?”

Zash used to like it when Nai hugged him like that. Said it was cosy.

He guesses people are different. He'll stop with the legs and the head.

Well, it is very cozy. That’s sort of the problem. Like she said, complicated human reasons.

“Thanks,” she repeats, and she gently touches his arm. If he’s anything like Zash, he’s likely just as touch starved. Probably more, considering his habit of being surrounded by crazy people.

This does make work more comfortable, actually. It’s… really nice.

...damn it. You know, Nai would really like this human person to stop thinking these things because the plants keep getting on his case.

Obviously he misses Zash. This isn't news. They know this. He misses him so much. What's another way he misses Zash to add to the pile? He misses being hugged. He misses physical contact. The plants don't have it, don't need it, can't grant it, and whatever... humanity...

He misses physical intimacy and now he knows he misses physical intimacy and that'll make it worse.

The Yvette-fractal, again, offered to him. She likes physical intimacy. She misses it (the feeling Nai feels is [=] to the feeling she feels) and she misses Zash ([=]) and she loves Zash ([=]) and she's having some bizarre human emotion related to reproduction about him and Zash that means that even though she would like physical intimacy and would even like it from him she also doesn't want it and she feels [~] to the way she feels about the cross-gun human about this.

This is incredibly fucking confusing.

He'll just... keep hugging. He guesses.

She does not have plants or any kind of telepathy to tell her what he's thinking, but... she absolutely notices something is up with him anyway.

"You okay?"

(This question comes with a small touch of concern on one of the arms wrapped around her.)

"You had confusing thoughts and emotions. My sisters could not translate them. I do not understand them."

"....... yyyyyeah I can see how they would be absolutely incapable of translating them for you," she snorts. "It's... extremely ridiculous human thoughts, don't worry about them? They do not entirely make sense and I think I'd honestly have trouble putting them properly to words, so."

"They say that you want more hugs. But don't."

"Pretty accurate approximation. Human emotions can be sort of... contradictory a lot of the time? I have ultimately weighed in favor of the compromise of 'yes, hugs' but not the... most hugs possible. Which, uh, sorry, I realize you're also probably pretty touch starved."

"...but why."

"Is that a 'but why are there not more hugs'?" she says, a little amused.

Oh good he didn't have to explain. "Yes."

"I, it would. I would be uncomfortable? Even as part of me enjoyed it. Human psychology is confusing and strange, to all of the lovely ladies listening, I do not recommend it."

He does not seem at all satisfied with this answer but he doesn't know how to poke at it from any other angles so he just gives up.

"Sorry," she repeats, gently patting him.

Yes, yes, whatever, they can get back to work. Well, she can, while he continues to hug her with just his arms, and he supposes his chest too a bit? She hasn't complained about that. He's not sure how a hug would have arms but no chest, he doesn't have detachable arms like Zash does. Also she should still explain what she's doing at the console because, well, he wants to help his sisters.

...

.......

...........also he likes listening to her voice.

She is happy to continue explaining things as she had been doing! It's important that the things and discoveries she makes outlast her, which seems to be important to her. Similarly, she's also keeping careful record of her work, mostly through the console itself, but there are some things she carefully writes (or graphs) on paper. She pets his arm absently (and without thinking about it) while she does this more boring work.

"Though you don't have a scanner or a printer hooked up to this thing yet, so. ... Actually if you could manage to get those without murder that would be great."

He frowns. "Beast, get the doctor here."

Zazi forms. "Why should we?"

"Because."

"You're so persuasive, Mr. Knives!"

"You don't mean that."