[ kaveh melts. alhaitham looks. it reminds him, alhaitham thinks, a little of the gray-furred cat that their next-door neighbour raises as if it were her own child. the spoiled little gray thing was well-known in the neighbourhood for having the penchant for getting stuck up trees and down gullies and whatnot. it is a creature without a single shred of self-preservation. a riboshland tiger could look at it and wonder upon the downfall of its species. but the next-door neighbour adores it. the cat can often be found sunning itself along the invisible boundaries that divide their properties. on balmy nights, it will sit deign to sit in the lap of its owner as she rests in her chair on the patio, her hand moving ceaselessly across the long line of its pale body. kaveh is a little like that cat now: a little worn, a little melted, a little spoiled.

and perhaps a little obscene. though, alhaitham thinks, that is an observation to make for a different moment in time, within a different context. kaveh is molded beneath alhaitham's fingers; alhaitham considers masters of clay and stone. the act of creation has never been this easy, though it is likely equally worthwhile. ]

I took a few Amurta courses on human anatomy. The diagrams are simple enough to follow. [ the next knot, alhaitham finds purchase with a knuckle he worries away at it with just the bone-jut edge of his finger, slowly tracing a line to the nape of kaveh's neck, then up, where ear meets hair. ] Though it is my position that it has less to do with my skill, and more to do with the sorry state of your shoulders.

[ in that self-same tone: ] Don't wriggle. You will hurt yourself.