Kiri's up early the next morning, restless with various low-level simmering concerns, and wanders out of her room.
"That sounds kind of like you want me to stand here for a while. Thinking about you naked."
"You could, if you wanted! You could also go somewhere slightly more comfortable than my kierten and think about me naked, you know what else I miss about Thiyec? No one has a room at the front of their house that they can't put any useful furniture in because people would be snobs about it!"
"Nobody has a kierten? That sounds weird," says Patience, apparently distracted from thinking about Loel naked.
"Yes! Nobody has a kierten. I was really happy about that when I left Welce," he says, laughing a little. "Kiertens always bothered me as a kid, they just seemed so pointless. I care less about it now but it's still fun to complain about. Anyway," he gets up, "I do actually wanna sit somewhere comfier than this floor, so what'll it be? Meeting everybody else or finding somewhere comfortable to flirt?"
"You can see me naked, if you want," he offers cheerfully. "You might've guessed I'm not shy about it."
"Lots of places! Of which," he says, "my room is probably the prettiest, and it's also right up these stairs."
And leads her up to his room, which has a breathtakingly gorgeous view of the Marisi River. His kierten had windows just as big looking in the same direction, but it's even better from the third floor.