"I'm glad I decided to wear it, then."

Hug. "I'm—"

"—you're taking this very well."

"...If...if I'm screwed, I'm screwed either way. If I'm not screwed, acting like I am could conceivably hurt."

...he laughs softly. "Can't fault your logic, I guess."

"And you could have hurt me at any time and you didn't. I mean, you're--you're the Emperor--you could hurt anyone at any time. But anyone could have hurt me in the situation we were in, all alone in those gardens. And you didn't. You were so nice."

"I like... going out alone sometimes and just - not being the Emperor for a while. It's why my face isn't widely known, I don't put it on the coins anymore, everything's the Imperial starburst - because that way it's easier, I don't have to mess around with illusions or any nonsense like that, as long as I'm not around people who know me I'm just... some rich guy. This isn't the first time I've talked to somebody that way - isn't the first time I've flirted with somebody, either - and when they find out it always ruins it. And they do always find out, if I keep coming back."

Snuggle.

"Yesterday morning I was hoping very badly that--that you would show up, so I--I could say goodbye. I thought--whoever bought me, wouldn't let me--that you'd never know what happened to me, that I'd never see the sunrise from those gardens again--"

Her voice cracks. Tears start running down her cheeks.

He holds her and kisses the top of her head.

"Please be real," she whispers, crying more freely now. "Please, please, let this not be a stupid fantasy about a stranger I met three times, please, I, I--"

He gently pets her hair.

"I'm - the same person you met in the gardens," he murmurs. "Everything I did there was real. I really do like you. That morning with the flower petals was the purest joy I've felt in a long time."

She cries harder, wordlessly, clinging to him.

He holds her. He pets her. He does not hurt her.

—the crying is having... effects, which she is in a position to notice.

She sobs herself out on him.

Then she notices.

"...Um."

...he loosens his hold on her, enough that she would not be impeded in moving away if she wanted to do that.

...She scoots a little farther away but does not stop hugging him. She raises an eyebrow.

"...I enjoy having a beautiful woman weeping helplessly in my lap."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"I'm the same person you met in the garden but I am also the same person you've heard all those horrifying rumours about. I don't actually know what horrifying rumours are circulating about me these days. I think the last thing I did that made me wish for better impulse control was throw a member of my administrative staff off the roof of the palace a couple of years ago, do they still talk about that one?"

"Yyyyyes. Um. Speaking of horrifying rumors. I. Um. Please pretend I found a more diplomatic way of saying this than 'please don't torture me'?"

"I don't think I'm going to torture you."

"Okay I was honestly expecting a slightly less ominous answer than that."

...he half-smiles. "One complaint you'll never hear about me is 'misleading, treacherous, dishonest'. I like you and I care about you and I don't want you hurt, but - I'd need to be surer than that before I started making promises."

"Okay." Snuggle. "This is still better than--I can reasonably expect to be able to, to ask you for things like going to see the sunrise in the east gardens or visiting my family..."

He hugs her, careful not to pull her close enough that she has to interact with the effects of her crying fit. "Yeah. I - if I hadn't expected you to be better off with me, I would've left you alone."

Nod. Snuggle. "Thank you," she repeats. "I was--prepared to go through with it, but..." She shakes her head. "Better me than them. But. This is better."