"I will hold you to that promise." The satisfied flash of her smile says he's confirmed something she'd only guessed at. "I did warn you, my friend. I am happy for you." They were friends, yes? She will be just as happy with a night of conversation and harmless flirting and his couch, though Haydn's absence now seems all the stranger.

"I had an odd request not long ago," she tells him, deciding to share since he had. "I do not know what to make of it."