Gale noticed that telling lack of a firm promise, but he let it slide, accepting that he couldn’t push Nepione too far too quickly. Change took time.

“I’m gathering as much,” he said, eyes crinkling into a smile. “Myself, I had to learn early on in life to let others take care of me. My mother and Tara are both deeply aggressive about it. They’ll get in your business, ask you a million questions, tidy up after you, feed you until you’re stuffed, then feed you some more; it does take some adjustment but you can get accustomed to that sort of thing, given time.”

He was getting derailed. It was so easy for Gale to derail himself, happily chattering away about his family, but he eventually reined himself in like hauling back the reins on a distracted horse. Instead, he now found himself watching the tilt of Nepione’s head, the dip of her jaw. It was fascinating seeing the way the blush spread on her blue skin, resulting in a particularly fetching shade of amethyst —

Well. Anyway.

“And,” he added wryly, “in fairness, our entire group is already well-beyond concern, so what’s a little more?”