Observation is one of his stronger talents - if not his strongest - so studying the subtle motions of her hand and fingers as she explains how each shape is formed, working to commit the sounds that each character represents, all of that is something he takes very seriously.

(It comes with the territory of spending hours, weeks, days observing - learning patterns, watching people come and go, finding the right moment to slip past unnoticed or make his move. It is the 'owl' part of his mind, mixed with a hint of the beast, survival instincts.)

But once they do decide to break for the evening and start preparing dinner - he is grateful, and more than a little tired mentally. It was smart of her, he thinks, to wear the dress as they worked on that exercise, because his mind is not thinking at all of sex at the moment. His priorities are wine, dinner, and then dessert.

"I feel as if I did decent, for my first day," he says as he pours each of them a cup of wine to drink as she stirs at the cheese.