It's beautiful. She's beautiful.

There's a soft hint of delighted feminine laughter, coming from - the obvious source, really.

She's amused with him. Elated, really. Does he know he's amazing? Because he's amazing. She's proud of him - he caught on so quickly, but of course he did, she knew this would work. Knew that capitalizing on his previous experience with her in particular was the way to go. Knew that capitalizing on their chemistry was the way to go. Or, one of the ways to go. She suspects she could have tried something else and he'd have been able to figure it out just fine, but she's taking partial credit for this because ha she's smart.

So's he. Is he just going to bask in her presence? Not that she's not flattered, but really Miles (when she thinks his name it comes with a contented purr, a flash of adoration) you know you can do so much more than just look at her. Does he want to see what the rest of the world looks like? This is his home, he should know what it is.

One thing at a time, come on, she was the first thing he saw, of course he's going to take the time to appreciate—

—and then he reaches out to look at his planet and completely loses his train of thought.

It's... it's Barrayar. He can see geography, all the Counts' Districts, their capitals, major cities - he can see history, the Cetagandan Wars, Vordarian's Pretendership, the paths they traced out on the soul of the planet - his grandfather's cavalry in the Dendarii Mountains, the huge ugly scar of Vorkosigan Vashnoi - he feels like if he looked closer he could pick out individual threads, follow his parents or Gregor through the tapestry of time, but he's too stunned by the spectacle to try it.

She doesn't interrupt, just smiles and holds him.

...yeah, he might be at this a while.

He always feels this way on Barrayar, at least a little, this sensation of being home, of being in the right place, being connected to his life and his people and his ancestors - but now he feels it with unprecedented, breathtaking intensity. This is his planet. His home, his history - his District, his mountains - God, his mountains...

Something about his first real interaction with the Force being something beautiful makes her feel like she did something very right. Like this is how it's supposed to work, not scrambling in a tomb with crazy people. She doesn't feel jealous - she's seen more with the Force than he has, whatever her first experiences were - but she does feel like she's on the correct path here. Which is nice.

She leaves him his privacy, but does keep a resemblance of an eye on him. Just to make sure he's okay. In this, he's her responsibility. She'll make sure he doesn't get lost somewhere.

She'll be here when he returns. ... Possibly with a datapad out, getting more work done, but, well. She can multitask.

He stays caught up in it for hours, tracing out all the parts of his planet he recognizes and some that he doesn't. It is unquestionably the most incredible thing he's ever experienced.

When he finally emerges, a few minutes after midnight, he's exhausted and teary-eyed, overcome with emotion.

Oh, good, she was just starting to wonder if she should maybe prod him or not. This solves the problem nicely.

She looks up from her datapad and sees his expression. The datapad goes back on her bedside table, and then she can hug him.

He clings. "I - thank you so much," he says shakily, "that was beautiful..."

She smile into his hair, snuggling him.

"You're welcome. I'm glad, and you did wonderfully." Hair-kiss.

Yep okay he's just going to snuggle up and cry on her a little bit. Hopefully she won't mind.

Nope! She can return the favor he gave her earlier. Snuggle.

Okay. Good.

Eventually - after a few minutes - he smiles a sniffly smile and wipes his eyes and hugs her. "And now," he yawns, "I am definitely going to sleep."

Giggle.

"Sounds good." Kiss. "Good night, Miles."

"Good night, Nariveth."

Snuggle. Zzzzz.

Yep, she was pretty much only still up to keep an eye on him, now that he's safely paying attention to his own body again she can sleep.

(She has a warm pleasant thrill from someone using her name. From Miles calling her by her name. It's been so long - not long enough for her to have forgotten it, but maybe long enough that she sort of forgot what it sounded like when spoken aloud by other people.)

Snuggle. Zzzzz.

He wakes up in the morning and just kind of grins delightedly at the ceiling.

His favorite Sith Lord's still asleep, but if she were awake she's be happy with his delight.

She would! She's so good. She is the best Sith Lord.

... yeah, he is definitely in love with her.

Soon enough, she stirs, yawning a little.

"Good morning," she mumbles, opening an eye. ".... Especially with that smile, hi Miles."

He laughs. "Good morning!"

"You seem cheerful. Just thrilled with my presence, or have you been gazing lovingly at your homeworld some more?"

"No, the thing I have been gazing lovingly at is definitely you."

"Excellent, I don't have to control my no doubt horrible jealousy."

"If you were habitually jealous of Barrayar that would be a problem. But I think we can probably work something out between the three of us."