[ It's times like these — although, to be fair, this is a pretty extreme one of these times — that Ramir reaffirms for herself that Sigma could decide against coming home with her, but she wouldn't take it. It would just be a cue to try harder, be more convincing. This is not a guy she wants to let go of, not ever. ]

Thanks, Sigma.

[ Her low voice is a little lower, husky as it brushes close to tears. She's not going to let those happen this time, though. She doesn't want to do that to him. So she kisses his head again, drops her arm around his shoulders to squeeze him into a hug, and takes a breath to push past the thick feeling in her throat. ]

I think they're making pretty good progress, anyway. The nerds, I mean. In like two weeks I bet you anything they'll have something scienced up for us, and then my biggest problem's gonna be that I put on like 15 pounds with all the eating.