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She laughed, too, but seemed too comfortable coddling Richard to care all that much.
"So we do. I kind of like just sitting here in damp clothes. Makes you seem warmer." Lorey kissed his cheek with exaggerated kissy noises. The light-hearted atmosphere had returned, and they could worry about all the other complications later.

What more of an invitation did she need? Lorey sat in his lap and adored the cuddles she got from her Richard. He could just wrap her up and make her feel safe, just like she could for him.
"Of course. I can never forget, remember?" She pecked him on his chin. "Doesn't mean I don't love hearing it from you."

Her nose rubbed against his, as her eyes shyly smiled into his.
"You have beautiful eyes. Big brown eyes." Lorey wasn't sure if she had ever made a comment about them before, but there it was for hi to think about as they sat together.

"Ah, so cute!" Lorey kissed him and smooshed his cheeks like the puppy he was trying to be. "I bet you got whatever you wanted as a kid. Giving mom those big, big eyes of yours."

That made Lorey laugh. "That's when you turned into a handsome young man. I saw those pictures."
Lorey wondered what he would have thought of her as a teenager. Would they have passed right by each other? Would he have given her the time of day? Obviously they were different people then, but she had to wonder.

"And then you turned into a dashing man. I think I went from girl to woman in the blink of an eye... I wonder if we were ever in the same place and never knew it."

"And I would have been intimidated by a strong military man coming my way." Lorey remembered the first day they met, and how even though he had looked rough and worn, he'd been there to pick her up of the street. Then she remembered how really he'd been stalking her out of grief for Rose, which made her think of everything the Amaranthines exposed and the terrible way she had cried herself into exhaustion that night. And thinking of Amaranthines made her think of when she had been attacked and had almost died. Lorey had to shake herself out of it before she started dwelling on that fear that they would come back and hurt her again.

But it still bothered her, and all she said was, "You're always there, aren't you? Every time I needed you, you were always there..."

Lorey hated to be the one to change things for the darker mood, but it had been bothering her for so long that she had to say something.
"...I never really told you about when the Amaranthine hurt me, did I?"

Lorey bit her lip a little bit before giving a nervous smile. "I know I said I was scared, but... I almost died, and all I could think, when I could, was, what's going to happen to Richard? I was so scared for you, and I came so close to just..."

Dying. She remembered the cut-off air, the thump when she was released to slump to the ground. The sounds of people fighting, and then nothing. The only memories after that were waking up with Richard close by, watching over her.

"And even when I was lying in bed, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I'm always scared in the back of my mind that they're going to find us again and I won't be so lucky."

"Richard, I love you. You were the biggest reason why I fought so hard to just keep breathing that day."
But she had to stay in the present. She was breathing fine then. There were no troubles, nothing hunting her. Her throat wasn't bruised, her body was intact. Richard was happy and...

"...you know, you went cold turkey on smoking, didn't you?" she said suddenly. "I haven't seen you smoke one cigarette in ages!" Her voice sounded so proud when she said that.