Snuggle. "Anytime."

"Well," she says, scrubbing at tears and shoving her issues back into their box. "I think that's my set of possible relationship constraints, complete with a healthy dose of some insight into the darker places in my head and in my history, do you have any you'd like to share?"

...He thinks about it.

"...I do actually need to marry the person I end up spending my life with, and marrying me comes with a - a place in the social and legal landscape of Barrayar - that's why it's so important that you love it here, it's not just that I personally appreciate you for it and it's not just that I love it here and want to live here for the rest of my life, it's... I'm Lord Vorkosigan, heir to the Vorkosigan Countship, and the woman I marry becomes Lady Vorkosigan and eventually Countess Vorkosigan when I inherit the Countship from my father. I would expect to have children eventually, although not anytime soon because I in no way feel ready for fatherhood yet."

"I'm not really adverse to being responsible for things or having a place in social and legal landscapes of places I actually like. Though I expect that I'm not going to stop being so involved in - everything. Is being Lady and then Countess Vorkosigan something that requires more time than I'm likely to be able to give, what with all of the other things I'm likely to be doing?"

"Not necessarily. It's - I don't know. You could ask my mother, she has experience making sense of it from an outside perspective."

"All right."

She smiles at him, then looks thoughtful. ".... I'm not against having children, but. To be honest it's not a thing I ever really expected to, ah, have? What with being a Sith Lord in the Sith Empire." Pause. "Any children we would have would be very likely to be Force sensitive."

"Yeah. Well, we have plenty of time to think about it."

"We do." She kisses the crown of his head, and repositions herself so the cuddles are less clingy and more comfortable.

"Though, we haven't even been on a date yet, and we're talking about marriage and children. I think many would consider that kind of fast."

"How about we retroactively classify those dinners with my family and that time I crashed your meeting with Gregor as dates, then our timeline will look much more reasonable."

Nariveth laughs.

"You didn't even realize we'd been flirting until today!"

"But it's so obvious in retrospect!"

"Mhm. But 'obvious in retrospect' is not 'we decided to go on a date.' While I might be tempted to let the various dinners slide, that time you crashed my meeting with the Emperor does not count. You just sort of showed up."

"I think showing up out of nowhere while you're doing something important and getting in the middle of it sounds like an excellent date!"

"Oh, does it? I will have to keep an eye out whenever I do anything important from now on, won't I?"

"I promise to keep my meddling constructive!"

"Ah, well. Then I suppose I have no reason to protest your involvement, do I?"

She trails a hand up to caress his cheek, wondering vaguely how quickly someone can pick up experience in the mechanics of kissing.

He smiles at her.

That is encouragement enough for her, so she kisses him accordingly.

What a great idea!

Yes, she is very pleased with having had it. In fact, they can just keep enacting it for a little while. For educational purposes.

They will learn so much.

For example: techniques for minimizing the need for oxygen can be used while kissing if one is disciplined enough, and she is.

Maybe later she'll want to take this further, but honestly, right now she kind of just wants to stick to this. No concern about scars or vulnerability or volume, just a warm comforting presence of someone who cares for her, wants her to be happy, and also wants to make out with her a little.

Yes, that sounds fantastic.

As time goes on, she relaxes. She wasn't precisely tense before, but usually there's an undercurrent of alertness, awareness, in every moment of her life. The undercurrent bleeds away with her continued synergy with Miles, leaving a pleasantly warm and tingly affection in its place. Dangerous to slip into, maybe, but she's sick of being starved for all physical affection. Tired of always looking over her shoulder, always being prepared. Exhausted with the idea of always, always, holding something back.

The kisses don't lessen in affection, but they do lessen in frequency and strength, in favor of nuzzling or gentle carresses. She hums contently, scootching slightly so as not to squish the object of her affections, and murmurs into his neck, "At this rate, I'm going to end up falling asleep on you."

He giggles softly.

"I'm not opposed in principle, but it seems like there might be more comfortable places to do that."