"Good thing you didn't come in before my alts snapped me out of the not thinking thing, then, it was like a coma but probably even more depressing."

"Probably. And I'm not even sure we'd have let them truth-drug you - depends how miserable you were -"

"I think they could've done without that part, that was to find out what was wrong with me in the first place and they could've maybe done without if they knew that to begin with."

Hug. "Let us know if you need anything that it'd be helpful to tell us you needed, okay?"

"Course. Love you."

They leave.

Soon Ruviri finds Sunset again.

He is vaguely impatient for the point to make itself clear but trying not to show this because this is almost certainly better than whatever comes next.

She contains no plot hooks. She is thinking about nail polish and how much she loves him.

He takes her hand. "Nail polish?"

She displays the nails on her free hand. "Nail polish! I could do yours. If it's pretty enough, is it pretty enough?"

"I am sure you could do it pretty enough - is it permanent -"

"Nah. It chips or you can take it off with some smelly stuff. I don't have my polish with me, can you get Ava to bring it?"

Ava, can you bring Ruviri her nail polish kit?

Coming!

Ava is along presently with 64 colors of nail polish and sponges and whatnot. She ruffles Ruviri's hair and Ruviri says "Elves!" and Ava says "Sorry!" and boops her nose instead and goes away. Ruviri starts contemplating how to do his nails. Sunset colors like his nickname maybe. In pretty gradients. With clouds?

He can't quite muster color preferences. Seeing her absorbed in a adolescent human thing is very reassuring, though. "- we were wondering if you could send Findekáno and indirectly other people ways to sit that don't have bad associations yet -"

"Ooh, probably, um." She looks between Sunset and Findekáno, nibbling her lip, then lobs a suggestion at the latter, revises it when she sees the results.

Then he can sit in a way that is not vaguely traumatizing! He does that.

Good!

She lays out warm colors and does not break contact with Sunset's hand once as she does the pretty gradient thing and waits for it to dry and then adds carefully dabbed pink clouds on some of the larger nails and then tops it with a clear coat.

He wonders where they're going with this. He really seriously wonders where they're going with this.

If he isn't going to shoo her to avoid getting too used to her she can do his toes too.

He doesn't shoo her. 

His toes get glitter blue and silver designs on them.

Okay, he tells Thauron wearily, you have more creative range than I gave you credit for. Is that the point here? 

Thauron does not reply.

When his nails are all done she goes back to just holding his hand.