Alia settles happily on his lap, the pitch of the roof making it difficult for the casual observer to spot them from the ground. It feels so good to kiss and be close like this, feel his body next to hers.

"I missed you too," Alia replies after the kiss. "Not sure I would have made it without your letters." She's exaggerating a little there, but the month she was visiting House Cynis was long, lonely, and terribly dull.