“I like to hear a storm at night. It is so cosy to snuggle down among the blankets and feel that it can't get at you.”

“Ready to s-snuggle?” he asked Kaidan, a slight clatter in his voice. Only Blake could joke on a night like this and get away with it.Kaidan shook his head and undressed down to his boxers, too, the tension finally shedding away from his frame. “I swear, mate. If I feel something poke me in the back. . .”Blake's laugh was dry. “I'm pretty sure my junk froze off, man, so don't worry.”

“She lay sprawled across the alien’s chest like some plump, slutty blanket, and instead of jumping off like a good little girl, she snuggled closer.”

“When I was little, I used to think that the sky at night was a big, black blanket that separated heaven from earth, and the stars were a whole bunch of little pin holes that the angels poked in the blanket so they could look down on us.”

“My dear, old age is like an airplane flying in a storm. Once you're in it there's nothing you can do. You can't stop a plane, you can't stop a storm, you can't stop time. So you might as well take it easy, with wisdom.”

“Put me down.”“Nope.” He held her snuggled to his bare chest, tipping her up so he could rub his cheek against hers. “I like carrying you.”