"If we only get one of these..."

"Mmmm I see your point but maybe we should talk about other stuff for a little while first to see if the turned-off-ness goes away on its own. So, um, do you have a name, and do you know mine, I don't think they actually mentioned it during the ceremony. Or, like, did anything else to suggest I was a person and not just an interchangeable sacrifice."

Headshake.

"My name's Altaia. ...It's short for Jiraltania, but I don't tell most people that, it's. Intimate."

Snuggle. "Pretty."

"I know. I don't not tell people about it because I dislike it. Do you want a name?"

"I probably need one."

"Probably, yeah. Any thoughts about what you want in a name?"

"Dunno. Never had one before."

"Mm, true." She cuddles him some more. "I'm sorry I had to dump you skinless in a tub of lye, by the way."

"Well, I'm sorry I had to eat a bunch of girls."

"I'm not sure I'm the right person to apologize about that to, seeing as I did not get et," she says. "Possibly it would be appropriate to convey apologies to, like, their families. ...Also, unlike the lye thing which is arguably not anyone's fault at all, someone is responsible for those girls' deaths, and it isn't you."

"Mm, true."

"I'm sorry I was originally planning to poison you before I got mysterious old woman advice instead."

"Oh, it wouldn't have worked. The king tried all sorts of shit, he was pretty desperate to get me out of the way. "

"Bet it would've tasted foul, though, random poisonous fungi and herbs mostly are not delicious."

Giggle. Snuggle.

Snuggle. "You're impressively sweet for someone who grew up a giant lizard with little to no human contact."

"I'm probably worse at the being human thing when I'm not dreaming."

"I can see how dreaming would make it easier to operate an unfamiliar body but I'm not sure how it would affect sweetness."

"- if I'd met you first when I was awake I would've been mad about the beatings and all, it wouldn't have gone well."

"...Huh, okay."

Snuggle.

Snuggle. "D'you think you're gonna be mad when you wake up?"

"No, 'cause now I'm not."