“They were tower stairs, a tight corkscrew down. The spiraling descent made Karou dizzy: down, around, down, around, hypnotic, until it seemed as if she were caught in a purgatory of stairs and would go down like this forever.”

“Stairs, are they going up or are they going down? They’re so confusing! If love were a physical thing, it would be stairs.”

“Now let us go, love, down the winding stair,With fingers intertwined...”

“Halfway down the stairs, is a stair, where I sit. There isn't any, other stair, quite like, it. I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top; So this is the stair, where, I always, stop. Halfway up the stairs, isn't up, and isn't down. It isn't in the nursery, it isn't in the town. And all sorts of funny thoughts, run round my head: It isn't really anywhere! It's somewhere else instead!”

“We are all on the stairs, my friend; some of us are going down, some us are going up!”

“What exactly, my love, do you think you’re doing?” Blake looked down at her.“These stairs make me nervous. I just wanted to make sure you got down them okay.” Livia felt silly now. He was obviously fine. Their slow spiraling dance actually made her a little dizzy instead.“And if I trip like the delicate flower that I am?” Blake asked, drawing near.“I was hoping I would break your fall, if you fell…which you won’t.”