"'Wanna move this to the bed so we don't have to keep standing?" sniffles Ivethis, after a while.

He nods.

Bed. Curling up amid slightly smudged blankets.

Ivethis is really not picky about the state of the blankets right now.

Cuddled crying: they have the technology!

They do!

Now that he is no longer a spite-fueled killing machine, it is very hard to keep from remembering that first floof-bug over and over and over again.

Ivethis cries in fits and starts, alternating between soothingly cuddling him while petting his hair, and quiet shuddering sobs while clinging to him. It helps to cry on someone, especially when you feel very, very alone.

Siran cries more continuously than that.

He didn't expect to miss his father, but he does.

Ivethis stops crying first, her fitful sobbing sessions lessening in length and frequency. She doesn't let go of Siran, content to be cried on.

Siran carries on for a while, but eventually trails off and goes quiet. He doesn't pull away.

They can just cuddle, then. She continues petting his hair, because doing that is nice.

Yeah, it kind of is.

Snuggle.

—he laughs softly.

"Mmm?"

"Oh, just - he kept going on about how I was here to steal his bride and my reaction was along the lines of 'I don't give a damn about your bride, I'm not entirely convinced she's not a lump of rock with a tiara painted on', and now here we are—"

She giggles.

"You've caught me. I'm secretly a lump of rock with a tiara painted on, what gave me away?"

"Lumps of rock with tiaras painted on are known to be very cuddly."

"Damn! You've learned the secrets of my people! Where did you find out?"

Helpless giggling.

"Clearly the tiara painting is very important to the cuddling process. Ordinary rocks aren't nearly so cuddly."

"Keep this secret safe, Siran. It's very important that it doesn't get out. Everyone might try to cuddle me, or worse." She lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Paint tiaras on their own rocks."

...he just shakes his head and grins at her, breathless from laughing so hard.

She giggles.

She is kind of tempted to kiss him.

That's probably a bit fast, and as much of a bonding experience as crying on each other for two hours is, she still doesn't actually know him that well. She settles for hiding her face in his shoulder. That seems like a good compromise. So he won't see the faint blush.

...hesitantly, he pets her hair.

Ivethis hums approval and snuggles closer.